Whirlwind Work Trip - It's on!

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Kristen K.'s picture
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Allie wrote:
Way to take one for the team! laugh That sounds incredible!

rolling You betcha! I hope it's as cool as it sounds. I've never had anything other than a mani-pedi at a Disney Spa, so we shall see.

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We miss you by 2 day! Just booked for May 7-14.

Kristen K.'s picture
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MrHub wrote:
We miss you by 2 day! Just booked for May 7-14.

Oh I see how it is, you just waited until I'd be gone. It's OK, I'll be running around like crazy this trip trying to pack everything in. I've got dinner scheduled with Robyn & Simon, but there's a bunch of folks that I'm not even going to tell I'm in town.

I'm anticipating a possible 'Frozen Ever After' opening soon after April 30th, and I have this feeling I'm going to miss it. Glad to know that someone will be there right after me who could gather some data! laugh

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Kristen K. wrote:
MrHub wrote:
We miss you by 2 day! Just booked for May 7-14.

Oh I see how it is, you just waited until I'd be gone. It's OK, I'll be running around like crazy this trip trying to pack everything in. I've got dinner scheduled with Robyn & Simon, but there's a bunch of folks that I'm not even going to tell I'm in town.

I'm anticipating a possible 'Frozen Ever After' opening soon after April 30th, and I have this feeling I'm going to miss it. Glad to know that someone will be there right after me who could gather some data! laugh

No! Anticipate a week earlier please so that we won't miss it!

Kristen K.'s picture
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Allie wrote:
No! Anticipate a week earlier please so that we won't miss it!

So - my data comes from an unconfirmed source, but apparently the refurb and list is giving April 30th as the final date? My thought is that soft openings should happen the week after? It's all just speculation. I don't have access to that official list, but I believe TA's do.

Allie's picture
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Yes, the "Re-Imagination of Maelstrom" is listed as ending April 30th on the official refurb list. I'm crossing my fingers hard for a soft opening before that though. We leave on the 29th! crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers

Kristen K.'s picture
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101 Days to go!

I just added the Deluxe Dining Plan onto my, and bought a 2 day Park-hopper awesome

Air - check!
Room - check!
DDP - check!
Park - check!

I made dining reservations at Tusker House (hoping to switch this out for Tiffins), The Boathouse, and Spice Road Table. I'm meeting Robyn for dinner at the Skipper's Canteen (no ADRs available yet)

Things are rolling right along muchlove

Kristen K.'s picture
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95 Days to go! I'm into double digits banana and the trip is looking pretty good.

Monday (add-on night) - Driving to Milwaukee for a date night with hubby. date I booked a hotel near the airport on Hyatt points because I have to be at MKE at 4am, and I didn't want to have to wake up at 1:30am to get there. Tuesday - Flight in the early AM, I should be on the ground in MCO by 9:30am. I figure I'll check by bags at SSR, get my ECV, wheelchair and be on my way to Disney Springs by about 11. I'm hitting Morimoto's Forbidden Lounge for lunch, and grabbing dessert at Vivoli Gelateria before hopping a bus to Animal Kingdom. At Animal Kingdom I need to hit a bunch of snack kiosks, Zuri's Sweets, Thirsty River Bar. I'll take some ride and entertainment pictures, and I have a dinner reservation at Tusker House (that I'm not emotionally attached to sarcastic ).

At the moment, the DAK is listed as closing at 6PM, however sunset isn't until 8PM. If that holds - after dinner I'll be heading over to Hollywood Studios to do Launch Bay and watch the Fireworks. There are Extra Magic Hours at Epcot that night, so depending on how exhausted I am I may head to Epcot. Because - who needs sleep? (((HOWEVER! I'm *really* hoping that Rivers of Light will have debuted by the time I'm there. If that happens it gives me at least an extra two hours in the Park, I'll watch the show and *hopefully* get to do the night-time safari. I'm also hoping that Tiffins is open by this time and I'll get to eat there instead of Tusker House. But ALL of that is wishful thinking at this point. crossfingers )))

Wednesday - If I haven't gotten to DHS my day will start there (If I have I'll start at Epcot). I really don't have a ton of ground to cover there - breakfast at Starring Rolls, Star Wars Stuff (by a fluke this also happens to be Star Wars Day), maybe some shopping? confused

Then it's over to Epcot to cover a couple of new-ish things I haven't experienced yet like the Kawaii exhibit and some of the newer entertainment. I have a Lunch ADR at Spice Road Table, want to try a few of F&G Outdoor Kitchens, the Short Film Festival, and the DVC Member Lounge if it's open. yay (((MAYBE Frozen Ever After)))

After lunch I'm heading over to the Magic Kingdom mickey to take some photos of the new hub, eat cheeseburger eggrolls, ride pirates (because I HAVE to) and meet-up with Robyn & Sy bighug for Dinner at Jungle Navigation Co. after dinner I'll be heading to the Polynesian to hit Trader Sam's, and to see if there are any new cupcakes at Captain Cooks. biggrin Whoosh... that's a lot of ground to cover in a day for me.

Thursday - This is departure day, sadness. sad As soon as I'm up (wake-up call 6:30AM) I'll be calling the Bellhop to come and get my bags, check-in for my flight, then enjoy breakfast at Artists Palate. I have an 8AM Spa appointment for a rejuvenating treatment and I'll probably catch another 30 minutes or so of sleep in the lounge there. muchlove From there I'll head back over to Disney Springs for snacks to Jock Lindsey's, pictures of the boathouse collection, harbor master fun, a water taxi ride, The Ganachery, a late lunch at The Boathouse before just wandering around a bit and doing some shopping. DME should pick me back up about 6PM - my flight leaves around 9PM - and I should be home by 1AM Friday Morning!

My Goals For This Trip
1) To fill every possible moment with useful fact finding and writeable experiences that I can share!
2) To get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, 8 would be better, but I only have about 55 hours on property.
3) To not push myself past my breaking point trying to cram in more experiences.
4) Not to forget to have some fun while I'm at it!
5) To remember I don't have to finish everything I buy to taste, because I'd totally make myself sick if I did.

I've got a list of about 55 blog articles that this plan should cover, but that only breaks down to roughly 13 weeks of stories, so if I can squeeze more in I need to. I'm trying to convince my husband that what this really means is that I should be making a quick trip to Disney every 3 months , he's not quite buying into that. laugh

Kristen K.'s picture
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95 Days to go! I'm into double digits banana and the trip is looking pretty good.

Monday (add-on night) - Driving to Milwaukee for a date night with hubby. date I booked a hotel near the airport on Hyatt points because I have to be at MKE at 4am, and I didn't want to have to wake up at 1:30am to get there.

Tuesday - Flight in the early AM, I should be on the ground in MCO by 9:30am. I figure I'll check by bags at SSR, get my ECV, and be on my way to Disney Springs by about 11. I'm hitting Morimoto's Forbidden Lounge for lunch, and grabbing dessert at Vivoli Gelateria before hopping a bus to Animal Kingdom. At Animal Kingdom I need to hit a bunch of snack kiosks, Zuri's Sweets, Thirsty River Bar. I'll take some ride and entertainment pictures, and I have a dinner reservation at Tusker House (that I'm not emotionally attached to sarcastic ).

At the moment, the DAK is listed as closing at 6PM, however sunset isn't until 8PM. If that holds - after dinner I'll be heading over to Hollywood Studios to do Launch Bay and watch the Fireworks. There are Extra Magic Hours at Epcot that night, so depending on how exhausted I am I may head to Epcot. Because - who needs sleep? (((HOWEVER! I'm *really* hoping that Rivers of Light will have debuted by the time I'm there. If that happens it gives me at least an extra two hours in the Park, I'll watch the show and *hopefully* get to do the night-time safari. I'm also hoping that Tiffins is open by this time and I'll get to eat there instead of Tusker House. But ALL of that is wishful thinking at this point. crossfingers )))

Wednesday - If I haven't gotten to DHS my day will start there (If I have I'll start at Epcot). I really don't have a ton of ground to cover there - breakfast at Starring Rolls, Star Wars Stuff (by a fluke this also happens to be Star Wars Day), maybe some shopping? confused

Then it's over to Epcot to cover a couple of new-ish things I haven't experienced yet like the Kawaii exhibit and some of the newer entertainment. I have a Lunch ADR at Spice Road Table, want to try a few of F&G Outdoor Kitchens, the Short Film Festival, and the DVC Member Lounge if it's open. yay (((MAYBE Frozen Ever After)))

After lunch I'm heading over to the Magic Kingdom mickey to take some photos of the new hub, eat cheeseburger eggrolls, ride pirates (because I HAVE to) and meet-up with Robyn & Sy bighug for Dinner at Jungle Navigation Co. after dinner I'll be heading to the Polynesian to hit Trader Sam's, and to see if there are any new cupcakes at Captain Cooks. biggrin Whoosh... that's a lot of ground to cover in a day for me.

Thursday - This is departure day, sadness. sad As soon as I'm up (wake-up call 6:30AM) I'll be calling the Bellhop to come and get my bags, check-in for my flight, then enjoy breakfast at Artists Palate. I have an 8AM Spa appointment for a rejuvenating treatment and I'll probably catch another 30 minutes or so of sleep in the lounge there. muchlove From there I'll head back over to Disney Springs for snacks to Jock Lindsey's, pictures of the boathouse collection, harbor master fun, a water taxi ride, The Ganachery, a late lunch at The Boathouse before just wandering around a bit and doing some shopping. DME should pick me back up about 6PM - my flight leaves around 9PM - and I should be home by 1AM Friday Morning!

That's more planning for a Disney trip than I've done in AGES.

My Goals For This Trip
1) To fill every possible moment with useful fact finding and writeable experiences that I can share!
2) To get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, 8 would be better, but I only have about 55 hours on property.
3) To not push myself past my breaking point trying to cram in more experiences.
4) Not to forget to have some fun while I'm at it!
5) To remember I don't have to finish everything I buy to taste, because I'd totally make myself sick if I did.

I've got a list of about 55 blog articles that this plan should cover, but that only breaks down to roughly 13 weeks of stories, so if I can squeeze more in I need to. I'm trying to convince my husband that what this really means is that I should be making a quick trip to Disney every 3 months , he's not quite buying into that. laugh

BarbaraB's picture
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Wow! That sounds like a whole lot crammed into roughly 3 days! Take lots of pics and notes and most importantly goal #4:

Kristen K. wrote:
4) Not to forget to have some fun while I'm at it!

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Spook's picture
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Sounds great!

But let me get this straight.....this is all for work!!??? What do you do for a living exactly and why am I not in that field!!? gaah laugh

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Spook wrote:
What do you do for a living exactly and why am I not in that field!!? gaah laugh

My business card claims I'm a writer. laugh

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Kristen K. wrote:
Spook wrote:
What do you do for a living exactly and why am I not in that field!!? gaah laugh

My business card claims I'm a writer. laugh

waiting I need to learn to write a proper story!!!

I'm exhausted just reading it all!

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Kristen K.'s picture
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Allie wrote:
Yes, the "Re-Imagination of Maelstrom" is listed as ending April 30th on the official refurb list. I'm crossing my fingers hard for a soft opening before that though. We leave on the 29th! crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers

I read on another website today that the AP Newsletter says Frozen Ever After and the Summerhaus are now scheduled to open "Summer 2016" sad Guess we will both be missing it.

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Kristen K. wrote:
Allie wrote:
Yes, the "Re-Imagination of Maelstrom" is listed as ending April 30th on the official refurb list. I'm crossing my fingers hard for a soft opening before that though. We leave on the 29th! crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers

I read on another website today that the AP Newsletter says Frozen Ever After and the Summerhaus are now scheduled to open "Summer 2016" sad Guess we will both be missing it.

Yeah I read it too, gutted Sad

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

Kristen K.'s picture
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RobynPrincess wrote:
Kristen K. wrote:
Allie wrote:
Yes, the "Re-Imagination of Maelstrom" is listed as ending April 30th on the official refurb list. I'm crossing my fingers hard for a soft opening before that though. We leave on the 29th! crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers

I read on another website today that the AP Newsletter says Frozen Ever After and the Summerhaus are now scheduled to open "Summer 2016" sad Guess we will both be missing it.

Yeah I read it too, gutted Sad

I still have my fingers crossed for Rivers of Light!

Allie's picture
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Posts: 5477

I know, I saw Robyn post that yesterday. What a bummer! But yes, I'm still hoping for Rivers of Light!