Turning 21 With Mickey - A Father/Daughter August '13 PTR/TR - UPDATED 7/7

rebeccaariel

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 14, 2012
Hi all! :wave2: I'm Rebecca, and welcome to my second ever PTR/TR. My last Disney visit was a mother/daughter trip (you can find a link to the TR for that one in my signature) and now I'm planning a birthday trip with my dad!

He surprised me last week with this trip, and now we're in the planning stage. I'm super excited because I rarely get to travel with my dad. He works a lot, and hasn't been on a real vacation in nearly 8 years. So not only is it special because of my 21st birthday, but I'm getting to spend some quality father/daughter time in my favourite place on Earth.

To introduce the players:

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This is me. I'm currently 20, and studying film in my home country of Canada. I'm also a graphic designer for my own t-shirt company. Disney has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. According to my mom, The Lion King was the first film I ever saw.

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This is me with my dad, Bryan. I think I was about 7 in this picture. He’s a big nerd and I love him for it. We share a lot of dorky interests, like Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Game of Thrones. He can never remember any of the names of the rides at Disney World, so he calls them things he’s made up. Tower of Terror becomes “Terror Tower Death Drop” and the Country Bear Jamboree (one of his favourites) becomes “The Singing Bear Show”, etc. It’s pretty hilarious.

And now on to plans...hope you'll join in!
 
Planning Time!

So planning has begun! We don't have as much time to plan this time as I usually do, but I'm not one to crack under pressure.

We've got a free dining pin code for the week of August 25th, so that's when we'll be going. My birthday is on the 26th, so it's perfect!

We're deciding between three resorts right now - Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, and the BoardWalk Inn. I have a thread over HERE where I'm conducting a poll to try and see which resort is favoured. It's a tough choice. All of them have elements I really like.

AKL has the animals, and it's a gorgeous resort. The downside is it's farther away from the parks.

WL is beautiful. I love the theming. It's short ride away from Magic Kingdom by boat, so that's a plus.

BWI has so much to do, and you can walk from there to Epcot and DHS, which is really appealing.

We've got one ADR so far. As soon as he told me about the trip, I managed to snag a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest for the 27th at 6:30 pm. What luck!

The other restaurants we're considering are Boma and Hoop Dee Doo Revue. My dad and I both love campy musicals, so the latter sounds perfect for us. We also want to go to at least one Epcot restaurant, but haven't picked which. Anyone have any suggestions for a good Epcot restaurant for my actual birthday? There are so many ones I want to try, it's hard to pick!

I'd love to get your input and suggestions!
 
Ill be following along! I've been considering doing a PTR myself! I'm also going to be in the world August 20-29 so who knows, maybe we'll bump into each other! I'm 21 turning 22 so we are also in the same age range... And GET THIS! I'm also at school in Canada! Haha
 


Ill be following along! I've been considering doing a PTR myself! I'm also going to be in the world August 20-29 so who knows, maybe we'll bump into each other! I'm 21 turning 22 so we are also in the same age range... And GET THIS! I'm also at school in Canada! Haha

Oh that's awesome! You should definitely make a PTR, I'd read it for sure. It would be so funny if we ran into each other! Where are you staying on your trip?

I see in your signature you want to do the ICP summer 2014! Me too! I can't wait for applications to open.
 
How exciting to be spending your 21st birthday in Disney! Even if you can already drink in Canada legally!:)
 


Thanks for joining in, everyone!

How exciting to be spending your 21st birthday in Disney! Even if you can already drink in Canada legally!:)

It's so exciting! I think it's the perfect birthday to spend there. I don't feel obligated to go out to a bar with my friends on my actual birthday because I've been of age for 2 years so I can go out with them any time. It's not a novelty anymore, you know? But it'll be super fun to try all the drinks at Disney I've heard so much about. Anyone tried the Grey Goose Slush? That sounds delicious. I'd be happy to take all of your drink suggestions!

Planning Pt. 2 - Resorts and Restaurants

I had dinner with my pops tonight and we made a few decisions! We still haven't settled on resort - he wants the night to sleep on it. But we have narrowed it down to WL and BWI.

For my "real" birthday dinner (the one on my actual birthday) we'll be in Epcot, and I'm thinking about Biergarten. My dad is German and his mom used to make him many of the foods they list as being at the buffet, and when I read the menu to him he seemed really into it. I'm not a big meat eater but I do love schnitzel and mac and cheese! I want him to enjoy this trip too, and I figure I'll be wearing my birthday button all week, so where we go on the actual date of my birth isn't a huge deal. It's a birthday week!

We have BOG scheduled for the next day at 6:30 pm, as I said before, and the day after that will be Boma, which I also booked for 6:30 pm (the perfect time for dinner if you ask me :rotfl:). Then we'll have Hoop Dee Doo Revue the next night, but I'm waiting for us to book our package so I can use our dining credits as opposed to paying for it.

For the next day, I'm thinking of doing a Kona breakfast. I've never had Tonga Toast, and I want some! :thumbsup2

We have one last day after that, but we haven't decided if we're going to go to the parks again or go to Universal. Once we decide on that, I can try to figure out another restaurant.

Thoughts? Anything we're missing that you think we need to try? Any alcoholic drinks you think I shouldn't miss? I don't wanna drink my way around the world or anything, but I'd love to try something I can't get elsewhere.
 
Oh that's awesome! You should definitely make a PTR, I'd read it for sure. It would be so funny if we ran into each other! Where are you staying on your trip?

I see in your signature you want to do the ICP summer 2014! Me too! I can't wait for applications to open.

Awesome, thanks! I might just get started on that :thumbsup2! I'll be staying at the PORFQ (a personal favourite) haha.

No way! I don't know anyone else who is applying so I have to bug you throughout the process to have someone to get excited with! haha I'm so nervous about applying though because I don't want to be shot down!

As for drinks, you definitely need to try the magical star cocktail. It's a little expensive but totally worth the novelty (and tasty too!)
 
I'll be following along too!!

That is super cool that you design tees- Do you do any Disney ones? I have trouble finding Disney shirts that I love for upcoming trips!
 
I love this! I'm going to be in the world when I turn 21 too! I'm going Aug 26th- Sept. 1st and my birthday is the 30th! We're staying at POR (we originally booked AKL w/ a bounceback offer, but we decided to downgrade to add more days). My birthday ADR is at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge. For your resort dilemma, I think it should come down to where you're gonna spend the most time. If its MK then Wilderness Lodge. If its EPCOT or HS, then BWI. Being able to walk (or boat) back to your room for a midday break will be a blessing (esp. in August! Its gonna be 1000 degrees!) Maybe we'll run into each other! Counting down the days! :cool1:
 
I love this! I'm going to be in the world when I turn 21 too! I'm going Aug 26th- Sept. 1st and my birthday is the 30th! We're staying at POR (we originally booked AKL w/ a bounceback offer, but we decided to downgrade to add more days). My birthday ADR is at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge. For your resort dilemma, I think it should come down to where you're gonna spend the most time. If its MK then Wilderness Lodge. If its EPCOT or HS, then BWI. Being able to walk (or boat) back to your room for a midday break will be a blessing (esp. in August! Its gonna be 1000 degrees!) Maybe we'll run into each other! Counting down the days! :cool1:

That's so neat!!! I hope we run into each other!

Awesome, thanks! I might just get started on that :thumbsup2! I'll be staying at the PORFQ (a personal favourite) haha.

No way! I don't know anyone else who is applying so I have to bug you throughout the process to have someone to get excited with! haha I'm so nervous about applying though because I don't want to be shot down!

As for drinks, you definitely need to try the magical star cocktail. It's a little expensive but totally worth the novelty (and tasty too!)

I've never stayed at POFQ but I love POR!

Oh man I'm glad to have someone else interested in applying. We definitely need to chat and get excited about it together! I'm nervous about applying too but there's nothing we can do but try our best.

Ohhh that sounds good! Where do I get that?

OKAY more planning!

Planning Pt. 3 - Decisions, Decisions!

My dad and I managed to make some important decisions today! First, my dad decided on BWI for our resort. He said it looks like the most fun and walking to the parks is appealing to both of us. I'm super excited!

Second, we decided not to go to Universal. As much as I love Universal, I want to save my next trip there for when the Harry Potter expansions is finished. That's the area I really care about. The Simpsons expansion sounds awesome, but it's mostly just food, and I can wait until next year to get some Duff :rotfl: Forgoing Universal also allows us to relax a bit more since we have more days at Disney. We can just take it easy with the parks.

Since we now know that there's no Universal in our plans, I've been able to organize our days a bit more.

Aug 25 - Arrive, have quick service dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, go to Disney Quest
Aug 26 - Epcot, birthday meal (location TBD but would like it to be in Epcot)
Aug 27 - Magic Kingdom, dinner at Be Our Guest
Aug 28 - Hollywood Studios, dinner at Boma
Aug 29 - Animal Kingdom, dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue
Aug 30 - breakfast at Kona, day at Magic Kingdom
Aug 31 - Animal Kingdom and Epcot, dinner at Biergarten
Sept 1 - Leave to go home

What do we think of this? My only annoyance is I can't find a time to do Characterpalooza at Hollywood Studios. The day we're going to HS, the park closes early and there's no Fantasmic, which means no Characterpalooza. I'm not desperate to watch Fantasmic, but I really wanted to do Characterpalooza.

The only thing I can think of is this: On the 29th, we only go to AK for a short period of time. Then we hop over to HS just for Characterpalooza, then off to Hoop Dee Doo for dinner at 8:15. That seems like a lot of running around but I really want to see Characterpalooza. On the last trip I was in completely the wrong place and missed it. I was really bummed out. Does that seems feasible to you guys or too much running around? Any other suggestions?

Any suggestions for where to have my birthday dinner?
 
That's so neat!!! I hope we run into each other!

I've never stayed at POFQ but I love POR!

Oh man I'm glad to have someone else interested in applying. We definitely need to chat and get excited about it together! I'm nervous about applying too but there's nothing we can do but try our best.

Ohhh that sounds good! Where do I get that?

I hope we do too! We actually just might because I've realized we will be at BOG within an hour of eachother! Haha small world! (Pun intended).

PORFQ is amazing but I'd give just about anything to stay at a deluxe since we have yet too, I'm so jealous of you!

I'm excited to find someone too! If you have twitter you should definitely follow me, it's alyssachaves_ and we can chat about it! I'm definitely going to be as prepared as I possibly can for this application process! Haha

And I got it from Sci fi, but a lot of different restaurants have it - it's a specialty drink with a light up ice cube in it!

As for character palooza I would definitely try to fit it in after your AK day because its not to be missed! :)
 
Planning Pt. 4 - Booked!

We've booked our trip! Aug 25 - Sept 1 at BWI with free dining. Still working on flights, but we've got time for that.

I booked La Hacienda de San Angel for my birthday dinner at 7:45. I've heard it has an awesome view of Illuminations and the food looks pretty good.

In other news I'm having a heck of a time trying to get My Disney Experience to link all of my reservations. I got the dining ones on there but it won't link my resort reservation. I'm endlessly frustrated with this website and app :confused:

Well that's it for my short update today! Still looking for suggestions for drinks to try while at Disney!
 
Planning Pt. 5 - All Done

We're all done booking! Like I said in my last update, we booked our trip. We've now also booked our flights and finished all our ADRs.

Aug 26 - Epcot, dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel (7:45)
Aug 27 - MK, dinner at BOG (6:30)
Aug 28 - DHS, dinner at Hoop Dee Doo (8:30)
Aug 29 - AK, dinner at Boma (6:30)
Aug 30 - MK, breakfast at Kona (9:15)
Aug 31 - DHS and Epcot, dinner at Biergarten (7:30)

I think I also figured out how to fit Characterpalooza in! We'll do it on the 31st before dinner at Biergarten, since DHS and Epcot are pretty close together. I originally thought we'd go to Animal Kingdom again on the 31st but now I'm realizing we can get everything done on just the one day, and the 31st would be better spent relaxing at the resort and doing Characterpalooza.

I'm getting so antsy and excited now that there's nothing left to do to prepare. :hyper: How am I supposed to survive 2 more months with no planning?! I'm gonna lose my mind! :faint:
 
Planning Pt. 5 - All Done

We're all done booking! Like I said in my last update, we booked our trip. We've now also booked our flights and finished all our ADRs.

Aug 26 - Epcot, dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel (7:45)
Aug 27 - MK, dinner at BOG (6:30)
Aug 28 - DHS, dinner at Hoop Dee Doo (8:30)
Aug 29 - AK, dinner at Boma (6:30)
Aug 30 - MK, breakfast at Kona (9:15)
Aug 31 - DHS and Epcot, dinner at Biergarten (7:30)

I think I also figured out how to fit Characterpalooza in! We'll do it on the 31st before dinner at Biergarten, since DHS and Epcot are pretty close together. I originally thought we'd go to Animal Kingdom again on the 31st but now I'm realizing we can get everything done on just the one day, and the 31st would be better spent relaxing at the resort and doing Characterpalooza.

I'm getting so antsy and excited now that there's nothing left to do to prepare. :hyper: How am I supposed to survive 2 more months with no planning?! I'm gonna lose my mind! :faint:

Hey! Sorry it's been a while, i've been so busy! Your plans sound awesome - I'm pretty sure i've mentioned this but my family will be at BOG at 4:55 on the 27th as well, maybe we'll bump into each other at MK! :D

I'm glad you figured out how to make it to characterpalooza, it's a favourite of mine!

I've been terrible about having nothing to do but wait haha I just keep buying things for the trip and changing plans and reading the boards (basically obsessing).. the next 54 days are going to pass VERY slowly :laughing:.
 
Planning Pt. 6 - Actually Completely Finally All Done

Wow I haven't updated in a while! Sorry about that. Everything is all completed, finally.

Paid off the trip - check. Online check-in completed - check.

All that's left to do is wait!

I finally found a bathing suit cover-up that I like (only $7!) so I can cross that off my shopping list. There's not much else I really have to buy. I may grab myself another memory card because I tend to take a LOT of photos. Last trip I took close to 1600, and that was with restraint.

My dad needs a rain jacket that will work for warm weather. He thinks the one he has right now is too heavy. We don't like rain ponchos. To me they feel like I'm wearing a giant medical glove. I have a rain jacket that I think is okay, but I'm still trying to convince my mom to let me take hers. It's Gore-Tex, so it's expensive, and she's very reluctant to let me travel with it. But it's so comfortable and breathable, I really hope she caves and lets me.

I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out what backpack to take with me for the parks. I carry my camera equipment with me, so it needs to be one of my DSLR bags, but it's a matter of figuring out how much I need aside from my equipment. I don't carry a big wallet, just a little card holder, so that's not a problem. Then I need my rain jacket and a water bottle. My dad will carry the sunscreen. Is there anything I'm not thinking of that I should bring into the park with me?
 

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