13 Days of Disney - Everything We Never Knew We Always Wanted - June 2016 TR Update 1/30

[ArielSRL]

We actually did it on our off days, but we did laundry on a break at BLT during our trip last year (when we had no off days) and it worked fine then too. The drying took a little while, but it wasn't too bad. Light loads should help. The biggest delay for us was waiting for a machine to actually come open, as the laundry room at BCV is small. http://www.laundryview.com/disneyworld/ will be your friend. We've never had a problem getting open machines at BLT.



Ah, I missed that! I wondered if that was a filtered site on The DIS.

Yeh, I'll probably only *need* to wash some undergarments and my skorts. I'll just save everything else for home. I may just hand wash at night and hang to dry in the room and if not dry by break, I'll throw in a dryer. That may save some time as well.

Thanks!

 

[rlahansler]

Day 1, June 6 – Arrival Day

I woke up at around 5:30 this morning for two reasons: 1. I was super excited because we would be arriving at WDW on this day! And 2. I wanted to get an early start because of Tropical Storm Colin, which was expected to hit Florida in the afternoon on this day. We all got ready, packed up, and ate breakfast as quickly as we could and were back on the road before 7:00am. We knew we’d lose an hour almost immediately due to the time change. Google maps gave us an estimate of about 5 hours and 40 minutes for this drive.

We actually went ahead and drove straight through with no stops on this day – we just really wanted to get there! We had rain for pretty much the entire drive, but it went back and forth between being major and minor. There were several times during which I had to slow way down and put my hazards on, but for the most part, the drive was uneventful and we made decent time. Even with the rain, we made it in by about 1:30pm Eastern time.

I have a Disney song playlist on my iPad that is pretty much the exact length of our drive on this day, so we listened to it on random the entire way. The first song that came on was “Almost There”, which seemed appropriate. The last song ended about two exits before we arrived, and was “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” By the time we arrived it wasn’t raining anymore and we were totally in the Disney spirit.

We did some hooting and hollering when we finally saw this sign:

We love the BCV. We will be there 7/30-8/4. We are staying in a 2 bedroom villa and really hope to get a refurbished room...
My family of 4 and 2 more (my kids friends). Kids are ages 16 and 13 so this trip I suspect that the DH and I will have some time just for ourselves....

Note: for anyone who may fear I endangered my family and others by taking this picture, I did not stop, or even really slow down. My phone camera responds to voice commands, so I held it up and said “take a picture”, then put it back down. But I was getting my dang picture.

Before we headed over to our resort, we stopped at the Speedway across from DHS to fill up the gas tank, as the gas light had come on right before we entered Disney property. How’s that for perfect?

We then drove down the street until we saw this beautiful sign:

We like to rent DVC points for our WDW trips. We rented points for a studio at Beach Club Villas way back in August of last year so we could try out the Epcot resort area for the first time. The kids also were desperate to try Stormalong Bay. This is the only picture I took in the lobby. I wish I had taken more!

Anyway, I got a text saying our room wasn’t ready yet literally right after we arrived at the resort. That was fine with us, as we figured we’d just hang out in the lobby and look around for a bit until we got the text. I still needed to stop by the front desk so I could get a parking pass, though. I walked up to the CM and told her I knew we didn’t have a room yet, which was ok by us, but I just needed a parking pass. She told me to hold on for a second, then got on the phone. She was on for a few minutes and was talking low, so I couldn’t make most of what she was saying. Just before she hung up the phone, my phone dinged with a new text message – we had a room. This was only 6 minutes after the previous text.

The CM hung up the phone, smiled and said “ok, you have a room and it’s one of the refurbished ones.” I was shocked, as I knew she had just worked to switch our room assignment so we would have a room and it would be a renovated one. I thanked her profusely and we headed off to find our room. It had started raining again during the time we were in the lobby so the couple of pictures I snapped are a little dreary. Still, it was absolutely beautiful and we were thrilled to be there.

We were in room 263. It was gorgeous and still smelled like fresh paint. I took many pictures and the children made fun of me for doing so, but I couldn’t help myself.

After exploring the room we stepped out on the balcony and were shocked by what we found. It was huge! It went all the way down to the end of the building, then wrapped around the corner. I was sure it must have been a shared balcony with another room, but it really was just ours. I love sitting out on the balcony and reading during mid-day breaks, so I was super excited. Plus, I had requested a canal view, which I had. And we were able to see some of the highest Illuminations fireworks from the far end.

After getting settled in, we went to grab some resort mugs – red for me, blue for Rees – and look around the resort some more. We checked out the Marketplace, Cape May, and Stormalong Bay. At this point the kids could no longer stand it, so they went back to the room to change into swimsuits to get some quality time with the pool area. Rees took them down while I stayed in the room and did some unpacking. It rained off and on during the afternoon and evening, but they got in as much pool time as they could.

(Yes, that is a Mickey head on my house key...)

We got dinner from the Beach Club Marketplace. Rees and the kids all had pepperoni flatbreads while I had the Turkey sandwich. Sadly, I have no pictures, but I think the kids would have thrown tomatoes at me at this point if I’d tried to snap any. We got them ready for bed and they both wanted to sleep in the murphy bed (side note: so did Rees, as it features Donald), so we had them alternate nights on the murphy vs. the pull out sofa. Cora took the murphy this night. Because I have no shame, I will admit that Rees and I watched The Real Housewives of Dallas before going to sleep ourselves. Before I finally did go to sleep, I set my alarm for bright and early for our first rope drop the next day![/COLOR][/SIZE]

Day 1, June 6 – Arrival Day

I woke up at around 5:30 this morning for two reasons: 1. I was super excited because we would be arriving at WDW on this day! And 2. I wanted to get an early start because of Tropical Storm Colin, which was expected to hit Florida in the afternoon on this day. We all got ready, packed up, and ate breakfast as quickly as we could and were back on the road before 7:00am. We knew we’d lose an hour almost immediately due to the time change. Google maps gave us an estimate of about 5 hours and 40 minutes for this drive.

We actually went ahead and drove straight through with no stops on this day – we just really wanted to get there! We had rain for pretty much the entire drive, but it went back and forth between being major and minor. There were several times during which I had to slow way down and put my hazards on, but for the most part, the drive was uneventful and we made decent time. Even with the rain, we made it in by about 1:30pm Eastern time.

I have a Disney song playlist on my iPad that is pretty much the exact length of our drive on this day, so we listened to it on random the entire way. The first song that came on was “Almost There”, which seemed appropriate. The last song ended about two exits before we arrived, and was “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” By the time we arrived it wasn’t raining anymore and we were totally in the Disney spirit.

We did some hooting and hollering when we finally saw this sign:

Note: for anyone who may fear I endangered my family and others by taking this picture, I did not stop, or even really slow down. My phone camera responds to voice commands, so I held it up and said “take a picture”, then put it back down. But I was getting my dang picture.

Before we headed over to our resort, we stopped at the Speedway across from DHS to fill up the gas tank, as the gas light had come on right before we entered Disney property. How’s that for perfect?

We then drove down the street until we saw this beautiful sign:

We like to rent DVC points for our WDW trips. We rented points for a studio at Beach Club Villas way back in August of last year so we could try out the Epcot resort area for the first time. The kids also were desperate to try Stormalong Bay. This is the only picture I took in the lobby. I wish I had taken more!

Anyway, I got a text saying our room wasn’t ready yet literally right after we arrived at the resort. That was fine with us, as we figured we’d just hang out in the lobby and look around for a bit until we got the text. I still needed to stop by the front desk so I could get a parking pass, though. I walked up to the CM and told her I knew we didn’t have a room yet, which was ok by us, but I just needed a parking pass. She told me to hold on for a second, then got on the phone. She was on for a few minutes and was talking low, so I couldn’t make most of what she was saying. Just before she hung up the phone, my phone dinged with a new text message – we had a room. This was only 6 minutes after the previous text.

The CM hung up the phone, smiled and said “ok, you have a room and it’s one of the refurbished ones.” I was shocked, as I knew she had just worked to switch our room assignment so we would have a room and it would be a renovated one. I thanked her profusely and we headed off to find our room. It had started raining again during the time we were in the lobby so the couple of pictures I snapped are a little dreary. Still, it was absolutely beautiful and we were thrilled to be there.

We were in room 263. It was gorgeous and still smelled like fresh paint. I took many pictures and the children made fun of me for doing so, but I couldn’t help myself.

After exploring the room we stepped out on the balcony and were shocked by what we found. It was huge! It went all the way down to the end of the building, then wrapped around the corner. I was sure it must have been a shared balcony with another room, but it really was just ours. I love sitting out on the balcony and reading during mid-day breaks, so I was super excited. Plus, I had requested a canal view, which I had. And we were able to see some of the highest Illuminations fireworks from the far end.

After getting settled in, we went to grab some resort mugs – red for me, blue for Rees – and look around the resort some more. We checked out the Marketplace, Cape May, and Stormalong Bay. At this point the kids could no longer stand it, so they went back to the room to change into swimsuits to get some quality time with the pool area. Rees took them down while I stayed in the room and did some unpacking. It rained off and on during the afternoon and evening, but they got in as much pool time as they could.

(Yes, that is a Mickey head on my house key...)

We got dinner from the Beach Club Marketplace. Rees and the kids all had pepperoni flatbreads while I had the Turkey sandwich. Sadly, I have no pictures, but I think the kids would have thrown tomatoes at me at this point if I’d tried to snap any. We got them ready for bed and they both wanted to sleep in the murphy bed (side note: so did Rees, as it features Donald), so we had them alternate nights on the murphy vs. the pull out sofa. Cora took the murphy this night. Because I have no shame, I will admit that Rees and I watched The Real Housewives of Dallas before going to sleep ourselves. Before I finally did go to sleep, I set my alarm for bright and early for our first rope drop the next day![/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[MeliMel702]

Absolutely Following this TR !! By the way, I hope your toe is feeling way better. Having injured both ankles several times, I definitely understand your pain. Currently planning our first DCL trip 8/2017. We've never been to WDW and seriously considering a trip around 10/2018 or 2/2019. My obsession with Disney started when I was a CM at DL in 2004, now my Bucket List includes all the Disney Resorts in the world. If you don't mind me asking. How do you rent DVC points? What are the perks compared to staying at a moderate?

 

[disny_luvr]

Yay! You arrived! Kudos for driving through the rain without stopping.

Your room is gorgeous! The refurbed rooms are a huge improvement over the old rooms. We rented DVC points in 2012 and stayed at BCV and thought they needed an update then.

 

[Jfsag123]

Absolutely Following this TR !! By the way, I hope your toe is feeling way better. Having injured both ankles several times, I definitely understand your pain. Currently planning our first DCL trip 8/2017. We've never been to WDW and seriously considering a trip around 10/2018 or 2/2019. My obsession with Disney started when I was a CM at DL in 2004, now my Bucket List includes all the Disney Resorts in the world. If you don't mind me asking. How do you rent DVC points? What are the perks compared to staying at a moderate?

And thank you! The toe is still not all the way there, but MUCH better at this point. We really want to try a cruise some day! And DH and I actually went to DL on our honeymoon in 2004 (the last time we've gotten out there) - maybe we saw you! I approve of your bucket list lol. You can rent DVC points through a company (like dvcrequest.com) or through a private transaction with an owner, often connected with through a message board. I have only rented direct through owners. It tends to be cheaper, but comes with more risk, as the owner controls your reservation until you check in. Even if you go the owner route, you can still find lots of good info by looking at the websites of the rental companies. The biggest perk for us is proximity to the parks. BCV is right outside of Epcot and within walking distance of Hollywood Studios, while BLT (our second resort) is walking distance from MK. And since the DVC resorts are attached to deluxes (or are stand-alone deluxes like Old Key West and Saratoga Springs), you gain access to deluxe facilities. Big drawback for some is no regular housekeeping with DVC, just trash and towel service on day 4 and a full cleaning on day 8 if you stay that long. You can pay for additional housekeeping if you want it, but we never do, as we like not having someone coming in our room everyday. Also, you often cannot cancel a DVC rental res. It's not for everyone, but has worked really well for us!

Yay! You arrived! Kudos for driving through the rain without stopping.

Your room is gorgeous! The refurbed rooms are a huge improvement over the old rooms. We rented DVC points in 2012 and stayed at BCV and thought they needed an update then.

Thank you! We were determined to just get there!

We were so happy to get a refurbed one! They had half of the building done, while the other half was still the old stuff and it almost felt like the mood shifted when we moved from the old to the new decor as we walked down the hallways. Glad they finally got around to it (and we got to reap the benefits)!

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 2 – June 7: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, part 1

I said we intended to wake up bright and early this day and that’s what we did! We practically sprang out of bed with excitement. First park day! We wanted to be somewhat toward the front of the rope drop crowd because we wanted to try signing up for Jedi Training Academy. We arrived around 8:15 and got in the left-most line. My toe was, of course, bothering me, so I went to sit on a bench for a little while and snapped this picture of the crowd waiting for rope drop at the time.

I then let my need to know what was going on override my desire to stay off my foot and went back to join my family. I snapped these while we waited for the park to open.

Alex was in a too-cool-to-smile place at this point. The Disney Magic would get him soon and he’d be grinning from ear to ear. They actually started letting people into the park around 8:35am. We walked straight to the JTA sign-ups and Rees and the kids got in line, which wasn’t tiny, but wasn’t bad at all. While they waited, I walked all the way back to the entrance to rent myself a wheelchair.

But wait, wouldn’t it have been easier to just stop for the chair when we first came in, sending Rees and the kids on ahead to Jedi and meeting them over there once I’d gotten it?

Why yes, yes it would have. However, Jedi would never have happened in that case because they wouldn’t have found it before a massive line developed. None of them ever have any idea where they are going in a Disney park. EVER. I serve as the navigator and they are all too happy to just follow behind. This typically works fine when I am mobile, but was a little tricky this trip with me in a chair for a lot of the time. I’m sure we looked pretty funny with me gesturing emphatically from my seat while Rees attempted to steer me through the crowds as the kids held onto either side. Good times!

Anyway, I made it back to sign-ups with my chair to find them just a few families back.

I had told Rees to go for the 10:40 show, 12:40 if that was full. It wasn’t full, but the CM dissuaded us from signing up for that slot, telling us that show would likely be rained out. We took 12:40, which threw off our plans a little bit, but not by much. I had planned to have us exiting for our mid-day break by about noon.

We finished up with Jedi before 9:00am and immediately high-tailed it over to our first ride of the trip. I snapped these quickly along the way.

…can you guess where we’re going?

That’s right - Toy Story Midway Mania! I promised the kids we would ride it stand-by this trip. We have ridden it many times before, but always with a FP, so we have never actually seen most of the regular queue. I mentioned that Alex is a huge Toy Story fan, right? Seriously, huge. I was afraid he was going to lose it in this line. He excitedly wanted to show us everything. I managed one measly (not very good) picture in the line because most of the time I was dealing with his excitement.

Many people had beaten us to the ride since we had gone to Jedi first, but we made it through the line in about 15 minutes. Cora was my riding partner.

I never remember my TSMM scores, as they are always pathetically low. I am not good at these games! But I very much enjoy trying. Rees was the high scorer of our car. Spoiler: he will be every time we ride and we have 2 more rides coming during this trip.

The plan was to dart across the way and meet Woody and Buzz immediately after our ride, but the construction walls at the end of the street caught our eye and we had to make a quick detour to check out the concept art for the new Toy Story and Star Wars lands. Then the kids noticed another wall with Mickey characters and had to pose in front of it.

The line for Woody and Buzz always takes a decent amount of time, but we always enjoy the wait because the kids love posing in the little areas set up along the way. Prepare yourself for some darn fine acting in this next set of photos.

Oscar worthy, right? So before we knew it it was our turn to meet the guys. This was the look on the kids’ faces when we rounded the corner, as captured by the PP photographer. Alex is looking at Woody and Cora is looking at Buzz.

Cora loves her some Buzz.

And Alex is all about Woody.

Notice Alex’s hat. If you read my PTR, you may remember me mentioning it. He got that hat as a present years ago and wore it on our first trip when he was 2. When we met Woody at DHS that trip, we had already seen him with Jessie in MK, so he had already signed Alex’s autograph book. Woody gestured that he would like to sign Alex’s hat instead and it has been his most prized possession ever since. He keeps a framed picture of that interaction with Woody on his nightstand. He decided that he wants to take that hat with him on each trip and have Woody sign it again each time. So this was our 3rd visit with the hat, and he proudly collected his 3rd signature.

One family shot before we move along.

Apologizing in advance: I sucked at taking photos for the next section of the day. Like, I seriously have none. Okay, continuing: After our meet & greet, we decided to ride Star Tours stand-by. I love this ride. I went back and forth between parking the wheelchair and getting out for attractions vs. staying in the chair during the line. At Star Tours I decided to see if I could stay in the chair. When we got up to the line, I asked the CMs if I could go through the line in my chair. They told me if I went over to the FP line, they would give me a return time when we could just come back later and ride. We moved over to the FP line and one of the same CMs stepped over into the FP line and said “your return time is now.” I got confused and was all like “um, but we don’t have a FP.” He says “uh-huh, time to ride” and lets us right in. I have heard that Disney sometimes does this for wheelchair guests, but I was really surprised, especially as I was obviously just in the chair for an injury. We thanked him profusely as we headed in.

After Star Tours, we went over to MuppetVision 3D. I remember seeing this show as a kid, so it has some nostalgia value for me. As we got up to the attraction I again asked the CM if I could go in in the chair. She said yes, but they were just about to start a show, so we’d have to wait for the next one. We said that was fine. She then scrunched up her face for a moment, then said “hurry!” and let us in to see the show that was just beginning, which we, of course, appreciated.

After we came out of MV, my phone dinged with a Touring Plans reservation finder notification. I had ‘Ohana booked for the following Monday night, but wanted Wednesday if I could get it. Wednesday at 5:05pm had come open and I snagged it and dropped my Monday ADR right there in the Muppet courtyard. Woot!

We decided to grab a quick lunch at this point, and so headed over to Backlot Express. It was early, but the kids were starting to whine for food and we had our first FP to get to in the 11:00 hour, so we went ahead and ate – less crowded at the QS places early anyway! We sat outside and happened to be there during the 10:40 JTA show that we had wanted, and saw it going on as scheduled. Kids up there all robed up with lightsabers in hand. I made a little snide comment about it and almost immediately after, the heavens opened up, it began to rain, and the announcement came on over the speaker that the show was being cancelled. I shut my big mouth and felt bad for the kids who had to be pulled offstage mid-show.

While we waited for Rees to grab the food (chili dog for me, chicken nuggets for everyone else), I snapped this pic of Alex and his Woody hat.

We were then visited by some incredibly aggressive ducks who wanted us to feed them like others have no doubt (inappropriately) done in the past. Not today, ducks!

Up next: Fastpasses, Jedi, rain, sun, rain again, and more DHS fun!

 

[ArielSRL]

Great update! Now let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to comment on. Good for you guys arriving at 8:15. This is happening for me next year. Actually I'm gonna do a ppo H&V next year so we'll have to arrive at least 20 minutes earlier than that! It honestly shouldn't be that difficult as I have to be at work by 7:30 or 8am depending on the day.

Love the photo of the kids waiting at the entrance. Such cuties!

Funny about them not being able to get anywhere without their navigator. I am pretty much the same (the navigator) but my mom studies enough to know where to go usually too. Next trip it will pretty much be all me though. My DH won't do any studying except maybe some menus!

That's awesome that Alex was so excited about the queue. I don't see us going through without a FP next year unless we just happen to notice a short wait time while we are there. My boys don't really notice the difference in the queues yet (except AJ did with Pooh) and so I'd rather just hit the FP until they do actually notice the difference and make a request. I do want to experience the PP standby line so I'll plan for that next trip for right after RD.

That's such a precious story about the Woody hat! Btw, did you make the autograph books? Do tell the details. I wanted to make one this past year but didn't, so I ended up buying the one from Disney where the character can sign one side and a photo goes on the other side. I ended up having to buy two bc there aren't enough pages so I spent $40 all told. I'd rather try to make my own for the same price!

Great family photo!

I'm glad you got a wheelchair so you weren't in incredible pain from trying to walk on that toe! My mom had a scooter and for our 2012 trip she took it thru several lines but this trip she rarely did. But I remember not standing in some lines in 2012 when she had it. Or getting special seating at shows.

We did muppets too but that was a bit of a cluster. You'll see once I get to my first DHS day.

Awesome on the TP ressie finder! Glad you got to change your 'Ohana to a better day!

Good for you guys beating the lunch crowd. Oh and funny about the JTA show and the rain. Though that's disappointing for those doing it then. I should've checked the forecast for our day I guess bc maybe then I would've signed AJ up for an earlier one. Oh well. Again, more lessons learned!

Chicken nuggets...what I ordered for the kids almost every meal. Did they eat them? Hardly ever...lol...even though that's all Will eats at home. I'm gonna have to figure something else out for them for next year.

Looking forward to more!

 

[Mousefan mom]

Great update! Now let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to comment on. Good for you guys arriving at 8:15. This is happening for me next year. Actually I'm gonna do a ppo H&V next year so we'll have to arrive at least 20 minutes earlier than that! It honestly shouldn't be that difficult as I have to be at work by 7:30 or 8am depending on the day.

Love the photo of the kids waiting at the entrance. Such cuties!

Funny about them not being able to get anywhere without their navigator. I am pretty much the same (the navigator) but my mom studies enough to know where to go usually too. Next trip it will pretty much be all me though. My DH won't do any studying except maybe some menus!

That's awesome that Alex was so excited about the queue. I don't see us going through without a FP next year unless we just happen to notice a short wait time while we are there. My boys don't really notice the difference in the queues yet (except AJ did with Pooh) and so I'd rather just hit the FP until they do actually notice the difference and make a request. I do want to experience the PP standby line so I'll plan for that next trip for right after RD.

That's such a precious story about the Woody hat! Btw, did you make the autograph books? Do tell the details. I wanted to make one this past year but didn't, so I ended up buying the one from Disney where the character can sign one side and a photo goes on the other side. I ended up having to buy two bc there aren't enough pages so I spent $40 all told. I'd rather try to make my own for the same price!

Great family photo!

I'm glad you got a wheelchair so you weren't in incredible pain from trying to walk on that toe! My mom had a scooter and for our 2012 trip she took it thru several lines but this trip she rarely did. But I remember not standing in some lines in 2012 when she had it. Or getting special seating at shows.

We did muppets too but that was a bit of a cluster. You'll see once I get to my first DHS day.

Awesome on the TP ressie finder! Glad you got to change your 'Ohana to a better day!

Good for you guys beating the lunch crowd. Oh and funny about the JTA show and the rain. Though that's disappointing for those doing it then. I should've checked the forecast for our day I guess bc maybe then I would've signed AJ up for an earlier one. Oh well. Again, more lessons learned!

Chicken nuggets...what I ordered for the kids almost every meal. Did they eat them? Hardly ever...lol...even though that's all Will eats at home. I'm gonna have to figure something else out for them for next year.

Looking forward to more!

 

[Mousefan mom]

We are so similar to you! We went for the first time in 2013 for what would be a trip of a lifetime...and well, we've been back each year since then! We are planning to stay at the Beach club later this summer for the first time, so I am closely watching your trip report! So sorry you had an injury! Bummer, but sounds like you squeezed lemonade out of lemons!

 

[Jfsag123]

Great update! Now let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to comment on. Good for you guys arriving at 8:15. This is happening for me next year. Actually I'm gonna do a ppo H&V next year so we'll have to arrive at least 20 minutes earlier than that! It honestly shouldn't be that difficult as I have to be at work by 7:30 or 8am depending on the day.

I actually had a PPO H&V scheduled for our second DHS day partly in case our JTA sign-ups hadn’t gone well on the first day. I ended up cancelling it because JTA worked out on the first day and we decided we really didn’t want to wake up even earlier. This will be a trend for our trip – we’ll make RD ok, but copped out on many of the PPO reservations I ambitiously scheduled because we wanted the extra half hour of sleep.

Love the photo of the kids waiting at the entrance. Such cuties!
Funny about them not being able to get anywhere without their navigator. I am pretty much the same (the navigator) but my mom studies enough to know where to go usually too. Next trip it will pretty much be all me though. My DH won't do any studying except maybe some menus!

Thank you! And it’s a little frustrating sometimes that no one else ever has any idea where we’re going, but I’m hopeful that as the kids get older they can start to help out. I am giving up on waiting for DH to learn the layouts!

That's awesome that Alex was so excited about the queue. I don't see us going through without a FP next year unless we just happen to notice a short wait time while we are there. My boys don't really notice the difference in the queues yet (except AJ did with Pooh) and so I'd rather just hit the FP until they do actually notice the difference and make a request. I do want to experience the PP standby line so I'll plan for that next trip for right after RD.

The waits seem to have come down a lot with the 3rd track opening, but yeah, I’d still do FP if the queue isn’t important for y’all. The PP queue is great and, IMO, definitely worth trying to see!

That's such a precious story about the Woody hat! Btw, did you make the autograph books? Do tell the details. I wanted to make one this past year but didn't, so I ended up buying the one from Disney where the character can sign one side and a photo goes on the other side. I ended up having to buy two bc there aren't enough pages so I spent $40 all told. I'd rather try to make my own for the same price!

I did! I have actually made their autograph books for all 3 trips. There is no way we’d have enough pages with the ones Disney sells! For our first trip, I used autograph pages I found on The DIS on the design boards. Last year’s trip, I made my own pages with simple borders and character pictures for Alex. For Cora, I did the little borders and character names, but left out the character pictures and she drew her own pics of the characters on each page (which made for some great interaction with the characters). This year I just made covers and back pages and left all the inside pages blank because I didn’t have time to do anything fancy. We are just planning to print and glue in photos of the characters from the trip beside each signature and then the kids can draw around them or whatever so it still ends up looking nice. I print the stuff out (year 1 on photo paper, years 2 and 3 on cardstock), cut the pages in half so each kid’s book is a half-page size, then I take them to be spiral bound and have plastic covers added at FedEx Office. I think it cost me about $15 to have both books done.

I'm glad you got a wheelchair so you weren't in incredible pain from trying to walk on that toe! My mom had a scooter and for our 2012 trip she took it thru several lines but this trip she rarely did. But I remember not standing in some lines in 2012 when she had it. Or getting special seating at shows.

I was really hesitant about the chair at first, but I ended up being so glad I got it! I took it through less and less lines as the trip wore on and Rees and the kids actually started to miss the special treatment lol. However, if I could walk, I was going to!

We did muppets too but that was a bit of a cluster. You'll see once I get to my first DHS day.

Uh-oh. Anxious to read that story!

Good for you guys beating the lunch crowd. Oh and funny about the JTA show and the rain. Though that's disappointing for those doing it then. I should've checked the forecast for our day I guess bc maybe then I would've signed AJ up for an earlier one. Oh well. Again, more lessons learned!

We were completely saved by the CM at sign-ups – nothing to do with our being prepared or checking any forecasts! We just got lucky that we 1. Had a CM who had checked and 2. Was nice enough to warn us away from the show we were trying to get.

Chicken nuggets...what I ordered for the kids almost every meal. Did they eat them? Hardly ever...lol...even though that's all Will eats at home. I'm gonna have to figure something else out for them for next year.

Yep! The eternal struggle. The good thing about not being on the dining plan is that we didn’t have credits we were trying to use. I carried gallon Ziploc bags into the parks with us and when the kids didn’t finish their nuggets and fries, into the bag they went. Next meal time, out comes mama’s bag! Lol. We even put some in the fridge and trotted them out on future days as meals in the room for the kids. No nuggets left behind!

 

[Jfsag123]

We are so similar to you! We went for the first time in 2013 for what would be a trip of a lifetime...and well, we've been back each year since then! We are planning to stay at the Beach club later this summer for the first time, so I am closely watching your trip report! So sorry you had an injury! Bummer, but sounds like you squeezed lemonade out of lemons!

I’m glad to know that there are so many of us! We get many strange looks from family and friends as we tell them that yes, we’re heading back again (and again and again…). I’m excited for you getting to stay at the Beach Club soon! It really is beautiful and my kids could have lived at Stormalong Bay. I don't think we'll be able to resist going back. Thanks for joining in!

 

[ArielSRL]

I actually had a PPO H&V scheduled for our second DHS day partly in case our JTA sign-ups hadn’t gone well on the first day. I ended up cancelling it because JTA worked out on the first day and we decided we really didn’t want to wake up even earlier. This will be a trend for our trip – we’ll make RD ok, but copped out on many of the PPO reservations I ambitiously scheduled because we wanted the extra half hour of sleep.

Yeh, I thought at the end of our last trip, I would schedule 3 for this next trip...now I'm fairly certain H&V will be the only one!

I did! I have actually made their autograph books for all 3 trips. There is no way we’d have enough pages with the ones Disney sells! For our first trip, I used autograph pages I found on The DIS on the design boards. Last year’s trip, I made my own pages with simple borders and character pictures for Alex. For Cora, I did the little borders and character names, but left out the character pictures and she drew her own pics of the characters on each page (which made for some great interaction with the characters). This year I just made covers and back pages and left all the inside pages blank because I didn’t have time to do anything fancy. We are just planning to print and glue in photos of the characters from the trip beside each signature and then the kids can draw around them or whatever so it still ends up looking nice. I print the stuff out (year 1 on photo paper, years 2 and 3 on cardstock), cut the pages in half so each kid’s book is a half-page size, then I take them to be spiral bound and have plastic covers added at FedEx Office. I think it cost me about $15 to have both books done.

Thank you for the info! Sounds like a plan I'd like to try! And as much as I'd like to print out pages and such, I totally see myself doing the blank page one! And being a teacher, I can spiral bound them at school.

Yep! The eternal struggle. The good thing about not being on the dining plan is that we didn’t have credits we were trying to use. I carried gallon Ziploc bags into the parks with us and when the kids didn’t finish their nuggets and fries, into the bag they went. Next meal time, out comes mama’s bag! Lol. We even put some in the fridge and trotted them out on future days as meals in the room for the kids. No nuggets left behind!

Sounds like a good plan. I'll probably end up doing something similar. Or maybe just bring peanut butter. My kids eat that by the spoonful!

 

[ariane37]

That's such a precious story about the Woody hat! Btw, did you make the autograph books? Do tell the details. I wanted to make one this past year but didn't, so I ended up buying the one from Disney where the character can sign one side and a photo goes on the other side. I ended up having to buy two bc there aren't enough pages so I spent $40 all told. I'd rather try to make my own for the same price!
.
QUOTE]
This happened to me a few years ago too Bought the ones where the picture goes on one side and ended up needing 2 for enach kid! The following trip we did the photo mat which worked out awesome although it was kind of a pain to carry around, always wondering if it was getting bent.......

 

[ariane37]

I absolutely love the Woody hat That's a keeper forever!

You know what's funny? I have NO sense of direction ANYWHERE, including Disney, for all the times I've been there. It's especially bad at AK.....Steve is very good at knowing his way around but it's actually the boys who always correct me and point us in the right direction!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Great update! Love love the woody hat. And great family pic! Also...so awesome to hear the CM's were so accommodating to you and your wheelchair. Big thumbs up to them for that!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Great update! Love, love the Woody hat! What a great idea to autograph it each trip!
Cute family pic!
And big thumbs up to the CM's who were so accommodating to you and your wheel chair.

 

[Jfsag123]

Thank you for the info! Sounds like a plan I'd like to try! And as much as I'd like to print out pages and such, I totally see myself doing the blank page one! And being a teacher, I can spiral bound them at school.

No shame in blank pages! My days of custom making them are likely done.

I absolutely love the Woody hat That's a keeper forever!

You know what's funny? I have NO sense of direction ANYWHERE, including Disney, for all the times I've been there. It's especially bad at AK.....Steve is very good at knowing his way around but it's actually the boys who always correct me and point us in the right direction!

Yes, I'm picturing myself sobbing over that Woody hat years from now after my kiddos are all grown up.

I actually have no sense of direction anywhere EXCEPT Disney. I get lost all the time everywhere else, but I studied those WDW maps in advance of our first trip and amazingly was able to navigate without even cracking one open when we were there. It's like it was meant to be or something.

Great update! Love, love the Woody hat! What a great idea to autograph it each trip!
Cute family pic!
And big thumbs up to the CM's who were so accommodating to you and your wheel chair.

Thank you! And all credit goes to Alex for the idea to keep getting it signed each trip. I was impressed he came up with that! The CM's were absolutely amazing when it came to being accommodating with the chair (and pretty much everything else) over the course of the trip. Can't say the same across the board for other guests, unfortunately.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Many people had beaten us to the ride since we had gone to Jedi first, but we made it through the line in about 15 minutes.

15 minutes is incredible!

I never remember my TSMM scores, as they are always pathetically low.

Same here. The only one I can beat is my 8 year old son. And that's because he's inherited my terrible hand-eye coordination

This one's my favorite!

She then scrunched up her face for a moment, then said “hurry!” and let us in to see the show that was just beginning, which we, of course, appreciated.

Aw, that was very nice of the CM

Super cute photo and the signed hat is

We were then visited by some incredibly aggressive ducks who wanted us to feed them like others have no doubt (inappropriately) done in the past. Not today, ducks!

Those Disney World birds are no joke! I'm a little nervous to encounter them after what I've read in several trip reports now

 

[1Grumpy9]

The kids have the posing for the props down to a tee!!! They are great pictures. Buzz and Woody are ones I would like to meet on my trip in November.

The one place that I like to eat at when I am at DHS is the Backlot Express.

 

[angryduck71]

Yay! This is awesome! (Although, I shall give your hubby a run for his money with the Donald love, signed, Angryduck71!)