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jrice4760's picture
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Joined: 01/16/2014
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First Post!

Greetings from N. Alabama!

I decided to start here for my first post. My wife and I have been going to WDW since we were children, and have enjoyed it many times with our children over the 25 years of our marriage. In fact, we just spent our 25th anniversary (September 2013) there, just us!

With our youngest daughter graduating from high school this May, we will be taking her on a graduation trip the next day. So, once again, we will be in WDW twice within a year.

I've been following wdwforgrownups.com for a few months, enjoying the articles and forums. Perhaps I'll follow the lead of several forum members and post a pre-trip report of our preparations. I've been driving my family nuts, trying to find the optimal balance between cost and convenience. Maybe it would make for a few laughs!

JPR

VelcroPooh

welcome JPR!

King Fergus

Whoo Hoo...Nice to have you on board..from Bonnie Scotland

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welcome to WDWFG's JPR, glad you finally decided to come out of the woodwork! You started in the right place and belated congrats on the BIG 25th. From PA here, along with the DW Scrappy. Yes by all means post away and make sure you put your dates over on the Who's going in 2014 thread.

carlsbaddrew's picture
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Very cool! Welcome jrice!

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Allie's picture
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Hi and welcome to the boards!

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Hello and welcome

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Kristen K.'s picture
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stars Welcome JPR! stars

So nice to have you join us here on the forums. I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying the website.

jhugo's picture
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Welcome! Can't wait to see what you are planning for your next Disney adventure.

alicemouse's picture
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Welcome aboard, JPR! Hello from up north--south central PA. Looking forward to reading all about your Disney plans! What are your favorites? Rides? Restaurants? Resorts?

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

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welcome

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Hello JPR and welcome to our group, glad you decided to come out of the shadows and join us.

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Hello and Welcome! yay

Ms.Mouse's picture
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yay Welcome! Congrats on your 25th! We will also being celebrating our 25th at Disney this summer. mickey Did you do anything extra special while you were there?

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Hello, Welcome and Congrats on your 25th!
date

How wonderful you will be taking your daughter to Disney for her
graduation gift- you will have some great memories I'm sure..

and YES, please post away,
We'd love to hear your pre-trip plans and how
it actually goes down laugh

welcome

jrice4760's picture
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Ms.Mouse wrote:
yay Welcome! Congrats on your 25th! We will also being celebrating our 25th at Disney this summer. mickey Did you do anything extra special while you were there?

Nothing special, really. The trip was thrown together at the last minute. Reservations at Pop Century were made the day before we left, so there wasn't a lot of time for advanced planning. We sported our complementary "Anniversary" buttons, which had "25th" marked onto them by the cast member that checked us in. Of course, every CM that saw us, even those in the parades, wished us a happy anniversary.

At AK, the leader of the percussion band in the Harambe area had noticed us during their performance, and made a point to recognize us to the rest of the crowd.

We had a great time, the crowds were smaller than I had anticipated for Labor Day weekend, and it was HOTTTTTT!!

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jrice4760 wrote:
Ms.Mouse wrote:
yay Welcome! Congrats on your 25th! We will also being celebrating our 25th at Disney this summer. mickey Did you do anything extra special while you were there?

Nothing special, really. The trip was thrown together at the last minute. Reservations at Pop Century were made the day before we left, so there wasn't a lot of time for advanced planning. We sported our complementary "Anniversary" buttons, which had "25th" marked onto them by the cast member that checked us in. Of course, every CM that saw us, even those in the parades, wished us a happy anniversary.

At AK, the leader of the percussion band in the Harambe area had noticed us during their performance, and made a point to recognize us to the rest of the crowd.

We had a great time, the crowds were smaller than I had anticipated for Labor Day weekend, and it was HOTTTTTT!!

A last minute trip sounds pretty awesome, though! And it sounds like a ton of CM's made it extra special for you! We'll be there over labor day weekend this year and I was also super surprised to see how low the crowds are predicted to be for a holiday weekend!

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We had a trip that ended on Labor Day weekend one year and we were shocked at how low the crowds were--lower than the first week of December mid-week. If you're going to pick a week to use a free work holiday (assuming you get such things), Labor Day weekend is the one to use!

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Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

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Welcome! My DH and I were also at WDW over Labour Day weekend and the first week of September. It was indeed HOT, but the lower crowds were amazing. mickey

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welcome stars JRice stars welcome

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Hello!!

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jrice4760 wrote:

With our youngest daughter graduating from high school this May, we will be taking her on a graduation trip the next day. So, once again, we will be in WDW twice within a year.

JPR

That's pretty much the coolest thing, ever" An adult trip with your graduated young adult! Welcome to the forum. I'm new too, and I'm just amazed at how cool the people are here. Very friendly folks!

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Welcome...

Our daughter opted for a WDW graduation trip, along with her 18th birthday a few years back. She had a blast! It was just the three of us. We let her make the ADR choices, etc... CMs provided her with many magical surprises and lots of pixie dust. She even wanted to have breakfast at Akerhus with the princesses; along with Hoop-Dee-Do Revue. Hope your daughter has a superb time too.

jrice4760's picture
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alicemouse wrote:
Welcome aboard, JPR! Hello from up north--south central PA. Looking forward to reading all about your Disney plans! What are your favorites? Rides? Restaurants? Resorts?

Speaking for myself, the greatest ride in "The World" is the Haunted Mansion. I have childhood memories from the early to mid seventies of my father doing a test run, then taking me on the ride. I can remember some features that are no longer there, such as a spider's web with a man caught in it. Funny how some memories stick, while other don't.

While we haven't been able to get in on the last couple of trips, my wife and I think the Liberty Tree Tavern is a great place to eat. We've only had lunch there twice, it's a nice change-up from burgers, pizza, hot dogs, etc. Speaking of hot dogs, Casey's Corner makes a mean corn dog and kraut dog!

We're pretty limited on exposure to resorts. Years ago, we stayed at Dixie Landings, which I think has been converted to another resort (Port Orleans, maybe?). Very nice place, large comfy beds, as I remember, excellent restaurant.

Once in 2006, and just this past Labor Day weekend, we stayed at Pop Century. Smaller beds and a food court instead of a restaurant, but it was clean and convenient. We're staying there again this May.

Being a civilian Army employee, we've stayed many times at the Army's Shades of Green resort on Disney property. My family, and any friends we've taken, have always enjoyed staying there. It is comparable in quality and amenities to a Moderate resort, but the prices are closer to the Value resort range. Large rooms, queen beds, two pretty good restaurants. My biggest complaint with Shades of Green is the bus schedule. Buses run on the hour and half-hour, depending on your destination. If you're going to MK or EP, you must go to the TTC and transfer to the monorails. If you're going to AK or HS, your pick-up and drop-off points are a little less convenient than most. However, you're still staying insided the WDW resort, and have the standard resort privileges.