Another Year of APs and a Surprise Cruise! Combo PTRs/TRs updated 6/16 Labor Day Parts 4&5, the end!

[amalone1013]

Now that I think about it I'm not sure. We've never moved hotels there, I kind of don't think they do.

I poked around a bit on here and it seems like no. I might ask that morning, just to see what they say.

That is a long day, but the tickets you buy for HHN when you already have day tickets are like half the price. I really hope you do it so we can hang out! Are you planning to get EP for HHN?

I didn't know that! I've been avoiding looking at Universal prices... I was able to use credit card rewards to cover our Disney tickets so they didn't feel like real money but I don't have any tricks for Universal.

Same here! Although usually they extend some of the hours for Sep, just not for every park/every day.

I noticed yesterday they have a Disney After Hours event on 9/20 and now I kind of want to do it...

Oh yeah, those would be troublesome. Although I don't know why it would want you to call in was it to alter them or book them in general?

It was so weird. It was just to book them in general. Then one day it popped up and I was able to book it, but the next day I wanted to switch the time a little and it was back to saying you had to call, whether it was for modifying or booking a new one. I should check again today.

Hey Alyssa! I'm here. Sounds like you all have some great plans thus far. Sad we're gonna miss you by just a few weeks. Can't wait to hear what ADR's you have made. You'll be shocked to know we have exactly 2 made for our trip in August so far

Hopefully someday our trips will cross! Two ADRs, what, are you becoming a planner or something?

Yay!! Anniversary trips are the best ideas! I'm really looking forward to ours next month.

And I'm looking forward to yours too, to live vicariously through you

Haha I think you're far from that kind of people.

Just being on these boards alone probably disproves that, huh?

 

[Raeven]

I didn't know that! I've been avoiding looking at Universal prices... I was able to use credit card rewards to cover our Disney tickets so they didn't feel like real money but I don't have any tricks for Universal.

I noticed yesterday they have a Disney After Hours event on 9/20 and now I kind of want to do it...

Oh yeah the one day tickets are expensive. I think you can use Amex rewards towards them? Although I’ve never tried. Honestly it would be cheaper/same price to do HHN with EP as it would be to go during the day. I think 1 day tickets for both parks are something like $170 each. Hhn tickets without daytime tickets are like 87 each and maybe like 40-50 something with the day admission, and EP is like 90ish each that day I think.

Ooo the after hours events look awesome! I’d love to do one but they never have them while we’re there.

 

[amalone1013]

Oh yeah the one day tickets are expensive. I think you can use Amex rewards towards them? Although I’ve never tried. Honestly it would be cheaper/same price to do HHN with EP as it would be to go during the day. I think 1 day tickets for both parks are something like $170 each. Hhn tickets without daytime tickets are like 87 each and maybe like 40-50 something with the day admission, and EP is like 90ish each that day I think.

Ooo the after hours events look awesome! I’d love to do one but they never have them while we’re there.

We thought about doing after hours back in January, but someone signed us up for the DVC party so free And I was playing with the numbers and it looks like it makes sense for us to upgrade to at least one AP, because we want MM for this trip. The cruise trip will involve one day at Epcot for sure, could end up being 2 day tickets, possibly even PHs. But one AP plus one 7 day PH plus one day Epcot ticket for next summer is the same as buying the tickets for both of us plus MM, after assuming some AP discounts. Getting us both APs is about $260 more that's not needed unless we can fit in another trip, but I don't know that we can with Zack's vacation time. And then having 1 AP would save about $65 on after hours tickets, but my understanding is we have to upgrade tickets in person, which means we couldn't do that until that week. Or Labor Day weekend, as I've been kicking around a trip idea for that... I over-analyze!

I do have some cashback on another card, I just remembered. I basically only use it to redeem for Landry's gift cards when we've been to Yak n Yeti My universal webpage is not being cooperative... when I try to look at ticket prices, HHN or regular, the calendar doesn't come up to choose specific dates.

Here's another weird thing with Tiffin's... they are open to book before Sept 14th, and after the 25th. And you can book normal reservations during our trip, it's just the packages that are saying to call

 

[Raeven]

We thought about doing after hours back in January, but someone signed us up for the DVC party so free And I was playing with the numbers and it looks like it makes sense for us to upgrade to at least one AP, because we want MM for this trip. The cruise trip will involve one day at Epcot for sure, could end up being 2 day tickets, possibly even PHs. But one AP plus one 7 day PH plus one day Epcot ticket for next summer is the same as buying the tickets for both of us plus MM, after assuming some AP discounts. Getting us both APs is about $260 more that's not needed unless we can fit in another trip, but I don't know that we can with Zack's vacation time. And then having 1 AP would save about $65 on after hours tickets, but my understanding is we have to upgrade tickets in person, which means we couldn't do that until that week. Or Labor Day weekend, as I've been kicking around a trip idea for that... I over-analyze!

I do have some cashback on another card, I just remembered. I basically only use it to redeem for Landry's gift cards when we've been to Yak n Yeti My universal webpage is not being cooperative... when I try to look at ticket prices, HHN or regular, the calendar doesn't come up to choose specific dates.

Here's another weird thing with Tiffin's... they are open to book before Sept 14th, and after the 25th. And you can book normal reservations during our trip, it's just the packages that are saying to call

We did the one AP thing last year and it worked out well. Then when it made financial sense to upgrade Josh as well (once we knew we’d be going on enough trips to justify it) we upgraded his on the following trip.

Hm, do you have a pop up blocker on? I can’t think of anything else, but sometimes the mobile site is weird. I looked earlier and that sat was 87.99 a person, and EP was like 90-99 when we bought it for that day.

That is weird!

 

[amalone1013]

Anniversary Trip - 65 days!
Cruise Trip - 347 days!

ADRs as of July 11th​

Today is not a good day for me, so I need some Disboards happiness!
Also I had this almost completely typed up and then lost it all

Since we waited so long, of course the first reservations I tried to get were the ones I couldn't find. So I ended up giving up that day and trying again a couple days later, because it was bumming me out. We really debated over where to eat, because we wanted to try some new places and we were struggling because some parks we didn't have any table service we still wanted to try, but sometimes the resorts/Springs options feel far away. So we decided that if we left the park mid day for a meal, we would Uber vs buses as our compromise And then you may notice this doesn't quite come in to play.


Disney Dining Plans
​

9/17: MK
The Plaza - 1:30pm
After Fireworks Dessert Party - 7:00pm​

I was trying to get Ohana this day, but haven't had any luck so far. My reservation finder keeps finding me 9:30pm reservations, which won't work the best. If not, I have the Plaza as a backup. They have mac and cheese! Also since we'll be at a value the previous night, I think I want to have breakfast at the food court for Mickey waffles. I missed out on them completely in January and had to make up for it in Disneyland in April.

​

9/18: AK/Epcot
Yak n Yeti - 2:30pm
Food and Wine
I'm debating about moving this a bit earlier to give us more time at Food and Wine. This is also an evening EMH night, and we somehow always seem to end up at the Mexico QS during EMH with nachos and a margarita

9/19:​

Anniversary!
Food and Wine
Shula's - 10:15pm
I booked Shula's really late so we'd have time to get back to the Dolphin before dinner to change/freshen up. Or maybe I can convince Zack to change in the early evening and go back to Epcot for some PP pictures in fancy clothes
​

9/20: DHS​

Mama Melrose Fantasmic package - 1:4pm/2:55pm
(because I'm indecisive)
We struggled with this day because we liked 50s and Sci Fi, but they weren't so outstanding to us that we wanted to repeat them over something else... but DHS is low on options. We were originally going to book the Dessert Party for Fantasmic, but I ended up with MM's. The dessert party runs $39pp and MM is $43ishpp plus tax and tip, so it just seemed like a better value overall. Though I'll miss my blue margarita! I originally had Il Mulino on this day too, but they don't open until 5:00pm and that felt too close to when we'd have to be at the dessert party. We'll get to you some day, Il Mulino! I'm sure we'll have to check out Woody's lunch box too. Maybe a late dinner in Disney Springs if we end up there after park close - would it be too much to do Homecomin' brunch and dinner on the same trip?
​

9/21: Epcot/AK
Chef's de France - 12:00pm
Tiffin's ROL package - 4:30pm
The Tiffin's ROL package is really hard to book this week, for some reason. It kept wanting me to call, but it opened up for a couple hours to book online and I got one. I've been trying to move it to 5:00pm, but it keeps saying to call I hate calling! It's very strange, Tusker House works fine, and Tiffin's works before and after our week Personally I'm torn on Chefs because I just think... but that could be more F&W time...

​

9/22: DHS/MK?/AK​

Be Our Guest PPO - 8:10am
Ohana - 3:30pm
This was the day I got an Ohana ADR, though I'm still hoping for the 17th! And BOG doesn't quite fit the park plans, but it popped up so I grabbed it in case we decide to switch stuff around. We could probably hit MK for a bit in the morning and attempt to FP Slinky Dog...
​

9/23: MK/Epcot​

No plans this day. I was thinking about Epcot first, but now I'm back to thinking that MK should be first, then we could do F&W at Epcot and walk back to the Dolphin when we have to go. Back in January we were in MK on our last day and ended up waiting 40mins for a bus back to the Dolphin, which was starting to make us nervous

Other Things, If The Opportunity Presents Itself:​

• Nomad's Lounge for a snack and a drink
• Trader Sam's, even if we can't sit inside - maybe after the Fireworks dessert party, depending on how we feel? And The Nachos from Captain Cooks!
• Abracadabar, because we always say we will then don't
• Jellyrolls, for the same reason
• A Nutella waffle from Sleepy Hollow
• A troll horn from Kringla - wait, are they selling those at the cart? When does the refurb/expansion finish???

Universal Dining Plans

None!


I haven't given them the most thought, I'm terrible. I don't get quite as excited as I do for Disney dining.


9/14: Fly In

Depending on our flight time, we like to stop at a restaurant at the airport for an early dinner - I get a $56 credit towards the bill there, so we split some food and dessert

And I start vacation off right with a drink

​

9/15: USO/IOA/HHN​

Maybe Mythos? We thought about eating here last time but didn't. Maybe Toothsome again? If nothing else I think I read you can get the shakes to go there...

Last year we ended up eating at both Harry Potter QSs.

Obviously we will need these:​

​

9/16: USO/IOA​

Homecomin' Brunch with @Raeven and Josh
And to show I do occasionally think of Zack, I think it would make his day if he could get the Church Lady Deviled Eggs because he would have people to share it with ​

​

 

[MeghanEmily]

Today is not a good day for me, so I need some Disboards happiness!
Also I had this almost completely typed up and then lost it all

Sorry to hear about your rough day. And also about technology not being your friend—that is SO frustrating. I've been there.

This is also an evening EMH night, and we somehow always seem to end up at the Mexico QS during EMH with nachos and a margarita

There are definitely worse places to be!!

Personally I'm torn on Chefs because I just think... but that could be more F&W time...

You make a good point...

Other Things, If The Opportunity Presents Itself:​

• Nomad's Lounge for a snack and a drink

All the yes!!!

• Jellyrolls, for the same reason

I keep missing out on doing this, too. I'd really like to!

• A troll horn from Kringla - wait, are they selling those at the cart? When does the refurb/expansion finish???

Nathan was so excited to try this, but I made him try schoolbread first. Then when we went back another day, he finally ordered one...then decided it was decent but that he liked schoolbread better.

Maybe Mythos? We thought about eating here last time but didn't.

We always seem to keep going back to Mythos. We've had great meals there at least three times in a row now. If you end up going there, I hope you like it.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Also since we'll be at a value the previous night, I think I want to have breakfast at the food court for Mickey waffles. I missed out on them completely in January and had to make up for it in Disneyland in April.

Mmm, waffles! The bounty platters at the Values I feel are particularly good deal if you can share between 2 people!

Personally I'm torn on Chefs because I just think... but that could be more F&W time...

I would probably keep it for now, then after they release menus for F&W, you can drop it if there are just too many things you like?

 

[Raeven]

Shula's - 10:15pm

Ooo yay!

Maybe a late dinner in Disney Springs if we end up there after park close - would it be too much to do Homecomin' brunch and dinner on the same trip?

Nope I don't think it would be too much

Nomad's Lounge for a snack and a drink

Ooo get the churros they're amazing!

Maybe Mythos? We thought about eating here last time but didn't. Maybe Toothsome again? If nothing else I think I read you can get the shakes to go there...

We've had good meals at both, Mythos is worth a try. You can get shakes to go at Toothsome too.

Homecomin' Brunch with @Raeven and Josh

And to show I do occasionally think of Zack, I think it would make his day if he could get the Church Lady Deviled Eggs because he would have people to share it with

We'll definitely share them with him! I was thinking of getting them again, and it's one of the only apps Josh can have. I also think the doughnuts on the app menu they have for the brunch look good if you want to split those with me

 

[fallonkendra]

I didn’t realize this existed! Marking my spot, I’ll be back to catch up at some point!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All of your dinning options sound good! It is so hard to pick!!! It's like picking your favorite child!

 

[amalone1013]

Sorry to hear about your rough day. And also about technology not being your friend—that is SO frustrating. I've been there.

Not as bad as your TR sadness

I keep missing out on doing this, too. I'd really like to!

I'm sort of ashamed, I mean we've been at the Dolphin like 12 nights total and still no Jellyrolls!

Nathan was so excited to try this, but I made him try schoolbread first. Then when we went back another day, he finally ordered one...then decided it was decent but that he liked schoolbread better.

I want to try schoolbread, but man I just cannot do coconut

We always seem to keep going back to Mythos. We've had great meals there at least three times in a row now. If you end up going there, I hope you like it.

I think we might try it this time. I mean, why not?

Mmm, waffles! The bounty platters at the Values I feel are particularly good deal if you can share between 2 people!

Yes! And I've finally talked Zack into sharing so we can eat more things!

I would probably keep it for now, then after they release menus for F&W, you can drop it if there are just too many things you like?

That's a good idea!

We've had good meals at both, Mythos is worth a try. You can get shakes to go at Toothsome too.

Yay! Though who knows, maybe we'll just try Toothsome again. It's so easy to do Citywalk for lunch.

We'll definitely share them with him! I was thinking of getting them again, and it's one of the only apps Josh can have. I also think the doughnuts on the app menu they have for the brunch look good if you want to split those with me

Ha! I have been eyeing those doughnuts too! I think we have a plan already

I didn’t realize this existed! Marking my spot, I’ll be back to catch up at some point!

Yay!

All of your dinning options sound good! It is so hard to pick!!! It's like picking your favorite child!

It's so hard! There's so many places, and I want to go back to our favorites but try new ones too!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I want to try schoolbread, but man I just cannot do coconut

Haha I get this! I mean, I like coconut, but I can see how the taste and texture might bother some people. Nathan always claimed vehemently that he hated coconut, but now he's started coming around. If it's toasted, he says he can tolerate it. But the Epcot schoolbread is, like, seriously coconut-y, so I don't know why he still somehow likes it so much??

 

[Raeven]

Ha! I have been eyeing those doughnuts too! I think we have a plan already

Sounds like a good plan

 

[amalone1013]

July 19th was Fastpass Day!
Anniversary Trip - 53 days!
Cruise Trip - 335 days!

I thought I was going to get some updates in on my reports before I went out of town from Thursday to Sunday, but obviously that didn't happen But Thursday was Fastpass Day!


9/17:
Peter Pan's Flight, Mine Train, Space Mountain

9/18:
Safari, Flight of Passage, Everest

9/19:
Anniversary!
Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, Frozen Ever After

9/20:
RnR coaster, Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash!

9/21:
Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, Test Track
(I always end up picking the same ones for Tier 2... and did they move Character Spot to Tier 1 recently, or has it always been Tier 1?)

9/22:
Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain RR

9/23:
Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise
(We always end up with Space and Jungle Cruise, since they are each of our favorites. I really can't risk JC having a long line and not getting to go again!)​

 

[amalone1013]

Disney After Hours
Anniversary Trip - 53 days!​

Cruise Trip - 335 days!​

In case you haven't seen this event, it's a hard ticket event where you are allowed to stay in Magic Kingdom for 3 hours past normal close. Most of the times we've been the parks are closing at 8pm or 9pm. We're both night owls, so when we did the Chrsitmas Party and also got to go to DVC's Moonlight Magic event back in January and MK was open until midnight, we were totally in our element! We were actually debating doing Disney After Hours (DAH) in January before someone invited us to Moonlight Magic, and it was like... buy tickets vs free... no competition!

But a couple weeks ago I noticed that they have one during our trip. It runs from 9pm to midnight on our DHS day. I was hemming and hawing about it, because it runs about $127pp ($95 with APs). We'll most likely end up getting at least one AP on this trip, for discounts and Memory Maker. But we already bought tickets, so we'll have to upgrade in person... which would mean we'd be waiting until 4 days before DAH to buy the tickets at the AP price. I was really going back and forth about that $65ish... guys, I'm cheap! I had just added up what the Universal tickets will run us so I was struggling to justify another $190 in tickets with APs, and even more without them. After my week-long internal debate, and reading some reviews, and watching some vlogs... I decided I'd rather pay the full price than risk it selling out, since it is the last one posted currently. And after I made that decision, I was reading the DAH thread on here and some people mentioned they were able to get a gift card for the difference in AP vs regular price, if they had upgraded to APs after purchasing tickets, so I plan to ask about that. It can't hurt, right?

I'm going to pick those up today with a gift card I have; technically it's from survey/reward site earnings and little gift card deals I've gotten and is supposed to be towards the Dreamy Surprise trip next summer, but hey I still have 11 months to work towards that! Also I swear I will start writing about that soon, I just focused on this one since it's obviously closer.

DAH is on our DHS day, as I mentioned, and is the day we are doing a Fantasmic package. Fantasmic is at 8pm (park close), but I figured that if we stick to the top of the section we should be able to get out and make it over to MK by 9pm, especially if we Uber (definitely not planning on buses )

The hardest part is, where do I go to call an Uber from DHS?

I almost forgot, I'm going to try and keep this a secret from Zack... Shhh! I assume that I'll be able to see these tickets in MDE after I book them, but Zack rarely gets on there. Last time I planned a big surprise was for the World of Color Dessert Party at Disneyland, and I managed to keep it a secret until it was time to line up Though I did tell his mom a few days before, so when he went to text her what happened she was just like, I know ​

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh, I hope you can get your discount refunded back to you! That only makes sense. It's a shame that you can't buy them in advance at the AP rate without having already upgraded to APs if you know you'll have an AP on the actual day, like I know you can do for resort room bookings, but I guess I understand why they do it like that since they can't check everyone's APs at the gate on the day. Sounds like DAH is perfect for you guys! I wish it had worked out for us for our August trip.

 

[Raeven]

The hardest part is, where do I go to call an Uber from DHS?

I'd just ask a CM to be sure, but there's an Uber drop off zone in the parking lot and it's closeish to the park from what I remember. We've been dropped off at HS a few times, but never Ubered from there.

 

[amalone1013]

A Dreamy Surprise Trip!
Trip Overview

We've also got a surprise trip in the making.

Before our wedding, we started kicking around the idea of a family trip. After the wedding, we thought it would be fun to do a cruise with everyone. We also thought maybe that would be a teeny bit easier to organize than a regular vacation or parks trip.

So we proposed the idea to Zack's brothers and their SOs, and they were in!

So who are we surprising?

His parents!

Since we are thinking next summer for this trip, we plan on telling them at Christmas. That way they have time to get passports in order, and also I think it's far enough out so they can have some input on things. It will also mean they can look through the cruise activities and decide if they'd like to do any before the booking date opens.

So if we're looking at a cruise, of course it has to be a Disney Cruise! We just enjoyed ours so much last year. It was a wedding gift from Zack's parents, and it got his mom reminiscing on a cruise she took with some friends when she was young, I think with Carnival. And she was talking about how it'd be neat to do Disney someday...

And we figured the best itinerary would be a 'regular' one out of Port Canaveral that goes to Castaway Cay!

We're also hoping to get in a day at Epcot and a day at Kennedy Space Center either before or after the cruise. If you've been reading my Wedding TR, you know that we wore Zack's dad out and he didn't make it through our Epcot day, so all he really got to experience was Soarin', Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Illuminations. Well, and Garden Grill, the restaurant that broke him! And Zack's family was going to go down to KSC the weekend before our wedding, but it ended up being closed due to Irma. So we thought that would be neat to add to this trip, since most of the family will really enjoy that.

Oh yes, and we're not surprising them like just springing a costly trip on them, we plan on splitting most of the travel/cruise costs with Zack's brothers, so it is a gift trip I felt like maybe I should mention that.

Now, some of us have the cruise booked, so sticking with that we are 332 days away from our cruise! Which feels really long yet short at the same time, when trying to coordinate a group...​

 

[MeghanEmily]

That sounds like so much fun! And like it'll be perfect for his parents, especially knowing that his mom is specifically interested in a Disney cruise. What a great gift! I'm sure those 332 days of planning will fly by!

 

[amalone1013]

That sounds like so much fun! And like it'll be perfect for his parents, especially knowing that his mom is specifically interested in a Disney cruise. What a great gift! I'm sure those 332 days of planning will fly by!

They probably will because we're the only ones with anything booked, so I'll be stressing like I was for the wedding