The Stiteses Take Manhattan, Part Two

Day Two was to be book ended by scheduled events. We had tickets for the One World Observatory, the top of Freedom Tower which replaced the World Trade Center, at 9 am, the first group to ascend. We also had tickets for an 8:00 pm show of Phantom of the Opera. These were two things that were on our "must-do" list and we were happy to sacrifice spontaneity to be sure we had tickets.

I picked the earliest tickets for One World that I could thinking it would be cool to see the city from way up there before we delved into exploring it. Also, I hoped it wouldn't be too crowded. Both were correct. My one fear was hitting rush hour on our first attempt at using the subway, but that turned out not to be a problem. I'm not sure why, but the train was nearly empty and neither station was particularly crowded.

I'm really happy with our subway experience. I downloaded a map of the system into my phone and referenced that quite a bit both during our visit and for weeks leading up to it. It is complicated and there are multiple colors and shapes and letters and numbers used to designate a ton of lines, but we managed it well and made great use of the subways during our trip.

Those spiky things are the Occulus, the surface entrance to an underground mall of sorts

For our first trip this particular morning we rode the "E" train to it's last stop at the World Trade Center, which let us off between a very old church and one of the most modern buildings I've ever seen. That was cool, and a bit weird. Between us and the tower was a funky thing called the Occulus, which is, best as we could tell, an underground shopping mall. The above ground portion is very striking, though, architecturally. On the advice of a security guard, we didn't travel below ground but instead crossed the plaza to the 9/11 Memorial.

The 9/11 Memorial

The memorial is really impactful in a bit of an understated way, if that makes sense. The One World Tower sits right next to the memorial and takes the job of soaring into the heavens (and, I guess, metaphorically the future) onto itself. It's huge and shiny and reflective and majestic. The memorial, on the other hand, is a pair of holes where the old Twin Towers once stood. Water fills the hole disappearing into a well that has no bottom we can see. It's the opposite of the tower. Names of those killed are etched into the walls surrounding the pits. It's a somber sight, to be sure. But what made me most sad, and most reminded of how the world has changed, were the police armed with shotguns and assault rifles and the police with the Anti-Terrorism patches on their uniforms. It struck me that John found none of that odd, and that's sad.

The new World Trade Center, Freedom Tower, rises up next to the memorial

On a happier note, the One World Observatory was terrific! It's an attraction well worth the admission price. We were blessed with a clear day and we could see all over. I loved how even this high up, even where big ferry boats looked like Matchbox toys, Manhattan still looked huge. It's a magnificent city, really, and this vantage point drove that home.

The Brooklyn Bridge from the One World Observatory

Back on street level, it was time to set off and explore the city. We walked east to the Federal Hall building and then the New York Stock Exchange and the Wall Street Bull statue. This is a very different part of the city from the Times Square area we had come from. It looked to us like "classic" New York should look. Lisa at one point joked that it reminded her of the Streets of America section of facades in Hollywood Studios at Disney World. She wasn't far off.

We took the obligatory statue of the bull, of course. I found it funny that despite all the hullabaloo about the Fearless Girl statue, there were a total of four people looking at her, while at the same time there was a huge crowd waiting to get a photo with the bull's raging face and at least a few dozen taking turns posing with the bull's testicles. Media reality is not the same as real reality. Ever.

Waiting to get a photo with the bull's balls

We were all getting a bit peckish at this point and headed off to Chinatown and Little Italy on the subway. I was only able to get us in the very general vicinity of Chinatown, so we had a bit of a walk to lunch. We ended up walking through what looked like the civic heart of the city; city hall was here as well as courthouses and a ton of municipal office buildings.  It was yet another face of New York.

We cut across a park that left us off in Chinatown. This is one of my favorite parts of New York because it seems so exotic. John found it to be a bit on the sketchy side for his tastes. We had lunch in a restaurant with a huge menu of stuff we'd never seen before. I had ramen with squid and oyster sauce, John got the duck and some steamed buns and Lisa played it safe with veggie fried rice. We got silverware and noticed that Asian patrons were provided with chop sticks. No one ever asked for a preference, which was cute. While we were eating, a pair of older Italian gentlemen entered who looked like they were lifted straight out of a film, fedoras and all. Not odd, since as immersed in Asia as we were, we were only a block outside of Little Italy, our next stop.

Ramen with squid stuffed with oyster sauce

The intersection of Chinatown and Little Italy

We had a tip on a fine little restaurant to try, and found it with no problem. We sat down to a second lunch (we had literally just left our first lunch about 30 minutes before) of raviolis, spaghetti carbonara and chicken pesto fusili. It was all delicious and we scarfed it down along with wine and a fine bread service. This would turn out to be a mistake on my part, as I felt like a person who had gorged himself on ramen and pasta for the rest of the afternoon. Funny thing, remember the old Italian dudes we saw in Chinatown? Well, the tables behind and next to us at the Italian place were occupied by a few dozen late high school or even college-age Asian kids accompanied by what appeared to be a mom and grandmother. We felt that rather encapsulated New York's role as a melting pot.

As we were all stuffed and a bit exhausted we decided to head back to the hotel for a Siesta. We rode the subway to Grand Central Station and walked back from there. Grand Central is truly grand. They've done a wonderful job restoring the place. All the subway riding and multiple stairs and escalators had wreaked havoc with my sense of direction, but after asking a security guard which way was east and west, we made it to our home away from home and rested up for our night at the theatre.

Kind of a lousy photo of the Phantom of the Opera set, pre-show.

Our show, Phantom of the Opera was at 8 pm in the Majestic Theatre, just a few blocks away. We skipped dinner as we were still pretty stuffed from our two lunches, and walked up to the show. The Majestic Theatre is just that, majestic, inside. It fills all the hopes one might have for a Broadway venue and Phantom is just a classic Broadway show. We all were completely wowed by the performance and walked back with show tunes in our heads, completely fat and happy and ready for a good night's sleep.

My Favorite New Stuff Of 2016

We were lucky to be able to experience a lot of the newest offering around Walt Disney World on our fall trip last year. We missed Disney Springs entirely, but we did hit each of the parks. Here's a run-down of what we saw.

Magic Kingdom

I think we only got to experience two really new things here, but they were both glorious. The Muppet show in Liberty Square is a must-do. It's perfectly Muppet-esque. The show is funny, the Muppets look exactly as you'd want and expect and it was carried off flawlessly. The setting is great, right in an open courtyard area, and you can sit yourself down on the wall surrounding the Liberty Tree and have a terrific view. We loved it.

MUPPETS!!!!!!

We also got to try the newest table-service restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, the Jungle Navigation Company Skipper's Canteen. This place is themed perfectly to the 1920s-30s era of adventure in far-flung lands. We ate in the main dining room, which was great, but next time I'll request the Adventurers' Club room, which is even better. The menu is a bit different, but for us that's a good thing. We enjoyed pork, chicken and fish all cooked very well and presented in unique ways, especially the fish which was a whole deep fried lion fish with spines and all poking out and its little fishy face looking right at you. This place is really worth a try if you are looking for Magic Kingdom dining options. And now it even serves beer! So go ahead and give it a shot :-)

The waiting room at Skipper Canteen is even cool

Epcot

Not a lot new here, especially since we decided not to even attempt the new Frozen ride. We did, however, really love the new Soarin' movie, so much so we rode it twice in a row. We also got to see Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker on their Mobile Muppet Lab. Apparently this is headed for Hollywood Studios sometime, but wherever it ends up, you need to track it down. It's a hilarious interactive show with, again, very Muppet-y looking Muppets. I just can't get over seeing these guys in the parks. Love it.

Hollywood Studios

With so much of the park closed and under construction, this one is getting a lot of shade thrown its way. We had a good day there, though. We enjoyed all the Star Wars stuff immensely, from the March of the Stormtroopers to the Chewbacca greet. They may seem like little things compared to a Star Wars Land, but they were some of my favorite things on our trip.

Animal Kingdom

This was my favorite. And none of the highly anticipated things, like Avatarland and Rivers of Light, were open. The thing is, they've begun leaving Animal Kingdom open into the evening hours, after dark, and it's the best thing ever. The nighttime safari was great! It's quiet and just different enough to be a lot of fun. Plus, we got to see the male lion roaring at the fireworks going off in another park, which was thrilling. But the entire atmosphere of Animal Kingdom at night is the real draw in my opinion. People left in the afternoon, so the place was empty. No lines for anything at all. We did Expedition Everest several times in a row with no wait. But just wandering around that place at night is great. It's the best-themed park Disney has, I think, and it becomes absolutely magic after dark. We were so very impressed.

Nomad Lounge bar

Oh, and we ate at Tiffins, which was spectacular. It's not cheap, but the food and service are some of the best I've experienced on the Disney property. Next trip I hope to spend more time in the attached Nomad Lounge, which looks across a river at the forthcoming Pandora.

I know there are some biggies planned for 2017, the opening of Pandora chief among them, but I'm wondering what else we'll see. Some of the coolest things from 206 were quietly introduced without a lot of pre-opening fanfare, like the Muppets in Liberty Square. Here's to 2017 bringing more of that!

My Chewbacca Experience

Everyone has their favorite things about visiting the Disney parks. I'd never poo poo another's obsession, but I never got the character meet-n-greet fanatics. I'm happy to jump in a line that looks really short to have a photo with a character, don't get me wrong. And one of our most magical moments ever involved Cinderella's interaction with John when he was a tyke. But I've always been a spontaneous character meeter, not one to work a meet into my day's plans. That changed on this trip, and I think I now completely understand the meet-n-greet thing.

On our Hollywood Studios day, which we made the first day of our visit, I actually had as my number one priority meeting Chewbacca at the Star Wars Launch Bay. The family was fully in support. They weren't nearly as interested in Chewbacca face time as I was, but they knew how much I wanted to experience this and so happily agreed to make it happen. It wasn't a hassle at all, as it turns out. The queue featured displays of lightsabers, which was cool, and the wait was posted at 30 minutes. Lisa pointed out that the line appeared to full of dads more excited than their children to see Chewie, so I wasn't alone and didn't feel a bit odd or out of place. I was excited. But I had no idea what would happen when it was our turn.

We were ushered into the meet area and there he was. Chewbacca. Sure, somewhere in my mind I

knew it was a tall dude in a hairy costume, but that tidbit suddenly ran far to the depths of my consciousness leaving the rest of m brain convinced I was in the presence of my childhood hero, Chewbacca.

I was five going on six when Star Wars came out. I loved it and all my friends agreed. We played Star Wars all the time, and I was always Chewbacca. He was my favorite to the extent I wouldn't even think about pretending to be anyone else in the movie. He's just so cool.

So there I was, looking at Chewbacca, and that 6 year old came right back. I couldn't talk. We spent probably 5 minutes in there getting photos and I never said one word. I just looked up at him and grinned. I was star-struck. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I could meet any human actor or rock star or politician or any other famous person out there and this wouldn't happen. That tiny part far away in my brain that knew it was a dude in a costume was saying I was being silly. But it was so quiet and far away I paid no mind. I enjoyed being 6 and starstruck.

Chewbacca knew. I'm sure he did. I'm kind of an open book anyhow and when I revert to childhood even more so. He hugged me. Lots. We mime-joked about Lisa being so much shorter. We made the Wookie cheers for the camera. When our photo shoot was done, he walked us to the door and in his silent, non-verbal way he made me know he understood how much that had meant and that he got it. I didn't leave feeling silly. I left feeling 100% happy and content. I walked on air grinning like a fool for probably an hour afterwards. I still get warm and fuzzy remembering it.

I'm glad it was our first day, because I was on the look-out for easy character meets the rest of the trip. We popped in to see Baymax on the way to The Land first thing at Epcot and caught Mexican Donald with a really short line later that day in World Showcase. Both experiences were great and the photos that came from them are treasures.

I'm not sure I'm ready to wait an hour or more for a meet, or use a FastPass+ on one, but I completely get those who do now. For my part, I'll be much  more likely to seek them out on future trips.

Not a meet per se, but it was super cool seeing these guys

The Magic Worked

Before we left for Walt Disney World I wrote about how much the lovely and talented Lisa needed this trip. The stress of work was getting to her in a way I'd not seen in a long, long time and she desperately needed to get away. I didn't say it then, but one of my big concerns was that she wouldn't be able to "let it go" and be truly away. I was picturing emails and texts about Town of Oak Island issues making it impossible for Lisa to relax and leave the real world behind.

As it turned out, that wasn't a problem. Lisa seriously limited the number of times she checked her phone for messages and when she did check, there were no problems or even questions waiting for her. Her co-workers and even the elected officials left her alone, and I am eternally grateful for that. Lisa was free to let Disney work its magic, and magic happened. We got our relaxed and happy wife and mom back, and it was magical. 

                                                                                                                                               

My people at a jaunty angle, waiting for the First Order

Driving to Cary for John's final marching band competition and leaving from there turned out to not be a very bad detour at all. The show was great, John and his band competed well and we all left excited and happy by about 7 pm. The drive to Disney wasn't bad at all from there, just a straight shot down 95. South Carolina seemed to last forever, but with Little Steven's Underground Garage on the Sirius for company, I was fine driving while Lisa and John got a little sleep.

We used the online check-in option, so Disney had texted me our room number in the afternoon and we were able to head straight to our room catch a few hours sleep before heading out to our first park, Hollywood Studios.

We got there just after lunch time and were immediately sucked into the magic. Hollywood Studios

Chewie & my peeps

has been very Star Wars-ified, and in the very best way. Lisa got to see her Muppets and I got to meet Chewbacca and introduce him to my family. The weather was beautiful, and it stayed that way our entire trip. We were all a bit sleepy, but stayed to see Fantasmic and were all pretty pumped up after seeing it. Lisa and I got to see John completely blown way by the show and talking about how he wants to come work for a theme park's entertainment division making shows like that happen. We all crawled into bed happy and ready for day two at the Magic Kingdom.

Our Keys to the Kingdom Tour was unbelievable. By now we were all firmly ensconced in the magic of WDW. Instead of worrying about work, Lisa was looking with complete amazement as a few Disney princesses showed up right next to us in the Utilidors under the castle on their way to a show. We spent the afternoon riding rides and the evening experiencing Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, staying in the park until midnight.

Rockin' her new F&W shirt :-)

My people outside France

Tuesday was Epcot Food & Wine Festival day, and we had a ball. By now, I'd even stopped wondering if Lisa would have to deal with some emergency or issue from home. I can't tell you for certain it wasn't in the back of her mind, but it didn't seem like it. We rode Soarin' twice back to back, grabbed a quick bite and drink from the little food counter in The Land pavilion and took the boat ride through the greenhouses before heading over to Test Track and then beginning our F&W experience at the Festival Center next door. Lisa got "sipping chocolate and a pretty new shirt and we headed off for World Showcase and all sorts of munchies.

We ate and drank our way around the world, we popped back to Future World for a ride in Spaceship Earth and took another lap of the food booths. We all decided to forgo the Illuminations show in favor of a relatively early bedtime and beating the crowds out of the park. I gotta say here, bus transport to and from the parks was easy,quick and hassle-free.

Yep, we were having a good time :-)

We like hats

By Wednesday, we were all completely relaxed. Lisa was a different person from the week before.

Perusing the Tiffins drink menu

We enjoyed Animal Kingdom from open to close in a completely relaxed and easy-going manner. We never had to rush anywhere, we stopped to watch all the street performers we saw, we enjoyed the beauty and intense themeing that defines Animal Kingdom, and we had a leisurely and delicious late lunch at Tiffins. Lisa may have mentioned once or twice how no one from work was contacting her, but it was in the context of being able to completely let go. Seeing Animal Kingdom, including the safari, at night topped off what was probably our favorite day of the entire trip.

I just love these two.

Lisa likes tigers. Grrrrr.

Off to tackle Everest and face the Yeti!

We had to leave the bubble Thursday, but went to the Magic Kingdom first and got to see it decked out for Christmas. I loved it myself, but seeing the old wonder and happiness back in Lisa's eyes that morning was the absolute best. We had a truly Stites Day, riding the Peoplemover around twice without getting off, enjoying lunch in the new and amazing Skippers Canteen and finishing off with the Christmas version of the Jungle Cruise, now called the Jingle Cruise for the season. Oh, except

Christmas Magic!

that we saw Elena of Avalor being welcomed into the pantheon of Disney Princesses on the Cinderella Castle stage on the way out. Oh, and on our way fro Tomorrowland to Adventureland earlier, Minnie Mouse interacted with Lisa from the float of a parade we stumbled across by posing and waving just for her.

See, it's those kinds of things that still get to us, Lisa and I. Whether it's seeing Chewbacca or waving to Minnie or staying on the Peoplemover for another lap or riding Expedition Everest in the front, back and middle all in the same day or having Tinklebell magically appear with us in photos or seeing Mickey and friends open the park, the unplanned magic is what sucks us in and allows us to completely leave the world behind.

Fantasy merges with reality and dreams come true at Disney World. Yes, it's not a budget-conscious trip. Yes, it's a longish drive. But some people spend that much money and all sorts of time on anti-depressants and doctors' visits trying to cope with life. Me, I'll take a dose of magic for myself and my family. Four and a half days in another world is pretty priceless if you ask me, and seeing it completely turn my frazzled and stressed out love back into a happy and relaxed and smiling woman is worth more to me than anything.

6 Days: Hollywood Studios Day

I figure for my sake as much as anyone reading this I'd take the next few days to go over our plans for touring next week. One week from today, next Sunday, is our first day on property and our Hollywood Studios day.

Since we'll be arriving Sunday morning and some of us will likely be napping after an over-night car trip, I figured we'd hit the rather abbreviated Hollywood Studios. I made our first FastPass+ for the Tower of Terror with an arrival between 3:40 and 4:40. I figure that's plenty of wiggle room to get everyone rested up and to the park. Besides that, my personal priority is the new Star Wars LAunch Bay to hug Chewbacca and hopefully see the stormtrooper march and if we're lucky some Jawas. I'm packing a few old flip phones to trade so I'm really hoping to see the little guys!

Other than that, we want to see much of what's left--the Great Movie Ride (with the Ark of the Covenant now in the queue), Star Tours, Muppetvision 360, One Man's Dream and the associated Dr. Strange preview, and if the line isn't silly long Toy Story Mania.

I'm playing food by ear and hoping Pizza Rizzo is open. If it isn't (and maybe even as a second stop for grub) I'm considering dropping into the Tune-In Lounge.

We'll finish the day using our second FastPass+ for the Fantasmic show before heading back for some well-deserved rest to prep for a HUGE Day Two at the Magic Kingdom!

Day 11: Finding The Lost Ark

We may have been denied Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Rockin' Roller Coaster and Dinosaur by the Refurbishment Gods, but we've been thrown a pretty awesome bone. The Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark has been added to the displays in the Great Movie Ride queue.

Those displays always include real movie memorabilia, and they apparently rotate stuff in and out. It just so happens the Ark rotated in just yesterday or today and we'll be among the first to see it! That's cool, as second to Star Wars, the Indiana Jones movies are a huge part of my growing up.

So, let's see here. I get to hug Chewbacca and find the Lost Ark on m first day at Walt Disney World. Yep, things are looking good.

15 Days: Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!

We never got to see the Osborne Family Christmas Light Spectacular (or whatever it was officially called), and that kind of bums me out because it was apparently a real experience. But with the Streets of America giving way to Star Wars Land construction, the Osbourne lights had to go. And the people were sad, particularly on Twitter.

Until yesterday! Then Disney blew up Twitter with the announcement of a new holiday show for Hollywood Studios, and the people rejoiced. Especially on Twitter.

The new show, called "Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM," replaces the Galactic Spectacular and begins November 14 running through the holiday season. It is in the same vein as the Star Wars show, with a combination of pyrotechnics and projections on the Chinese Theatre, and it looks AMAZING! It's based on the elves, Wayne and Lanny, from the Prep and Landing specials with appearances by Mickey and friends, the Nightmare Before Christmas gang and more.

No telling if this will last long enough (meaning doing it again next year or maybe even into 2018) for us to experience it, but it's great seeing Disney keeping what looks to be a great Christmastime offering at Hollywood Studios.

Day 28: Happy 45th Birthday Walt Disney World

For 30 days every year Walt Disney World and I are the same age, and that time begins today. Happily, it will end with my bad self right smack dab in the middle of the Magic on Halloween.

Between now and then, we will both be 45 years young. We have grown up together, me and Disney World. My parents took me the first time when we were both very young, 1972 I believe. I was there to share in the nation's bicentennial in the summer of 1976. I was back as a pre-teen and as a newly licensed 16 year-old. My parents celebrated my then girlfriend and now wife and I's college graduation by taking us and my sister to Disney World. We shared my son's first glimpse of the Magic at three years old with my parents, and Disney welcomed him with open arms and some of the most unforgettable moments of our lives as parents. We returned with John at about six and experienced the parks in an entirely new way, and again with an almost-teenaged John who reveled in the Imagineering details. We've been twice for Lisa's birthday and once for John's. We've celebrated our wedding anniversary in Disney twice, once with a full-fledged family vacation and more recently with an adults only non-parks weekend visit, both of which were magical in their own way.

In all those years I've ridden the Skyway and Mr. Toad and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; I've seen Epcot open, seen the Mickey hand and wand come and go, and seen Future World lose it's future focus; I've seen Disney/MGM Studios as an operating movie and television studio and Hollywood Studios as a very different and still evolving park; I've fallen completely in love with the "notazoo" Animal Kingdom and seen more and more come to a park that really shows what Disney can do with themeing; I've eaten breakfast at the Empress Lily in Disney Village, spent an evening at the Adventurers Club, shopped and eaten on our way in and out of "the bubble" at Downtown Disney, and enjoyed cocktails and squid on a boat at Jack Lindsey's Hangar Bar.

Disney isn't the same as it was when when I was a kid, but then neither am I. And that's a good thing. Are there things I miss about "classic WDW?" Sure there are, but there are things I  miss about being a carefree 8 year-old, too. That doesn't mean I'm  not
happy with who I am now and looking forward to where I'm going and who I'll be in the future. Same goes for Walt Disney World.

I can't wait to see what we are as we continue Moving Forward.....

35 Days: Jeffrey's Epic Stunt Spectacular

Being a part of the "show" at Disney World can be pretty special. We got talking last night with the MouseLife crew on Twitter about being That Guy and The Churro Guy in Monsters Inc, and I mentioned that'd been a part of the special effects show that used to precede the now closed Backlot Tour at Hollywood Studios. This morning, coincidentally, the photos from that experience showed up on my Facebook memories!

That was a really cool experience. We happened to be at the front of the line for the next group to enter the show, and when they asked for volunteers, Lisa goaded me into raising my hand and I was picked. I and four other guys were taken into the show area and given rain gear. We were each given a role to play in the show, a WW2 PT boat being attacked scene, and I got the role of telephone guy in an office that gets swamped by a huge wave coming in the window.

I had an absolute ball. I had a line, if I remember correctly, and got a good crowd reaction to being deluged. The cast members running the show were great and made us all comfortable and feel like we were special for being in the show. It put a little extra magic into an already wonderful Disney Day!

42 Days: Dr. Strange Coming To Hollywood Studios

One Man's Dream is another, well, maybe THE other, Walt-centric attraction in Walt Disney World. It's in Hollywood Studios between the Little Mermaid show and Toy Story Mania. One Man's Dream is a museum, basically, with memorabilia from Walt's and the Disney company's early years as well as some more modern Imagineering paraphernalia.  The attraction used to culminate with a movie about Walt Disney, and a very good one at that. It brought tears to my eye. That movie has now been replaced with rotating previews for upcoming films.

I'm not happy at all that the Walt movie went away, but if I can't see it, at least I can see a cool preview. As of October 7, a ten minute preview of Dr. Strange, the next Marvel film, will be showing at the end of One Man's Dream.  I'm excited for this movie, so that takes a bit of the sting away. There is even talk of a casting call going out for an actor to portray Dr. Strange in a meet and greet, presumably also at Hollywood Studios. If I could see him AND Chewbacca in one day, that's be pretty alright :-)

55 Days: Extended Star Wars Fireworks and Animal Kingdom Hours

Yeah, I'm still catching up on the countdown.....

Kenny the Pirate announced yesterday that October's WDW park hours had been adjusted, allowing for extending the Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood Studios and the after dark experiences at Animal Kingdom. If you aren't familiar with Kenny the Pirate, you should be. He is huge into character meet and greets and is the absolute king of helping you find exactly the character you want to meet. But beyond that, he is great for keeping abreast of park hours, show times and pretty much anything that affects your planning for a Walt Disney World trip. I'd recommend signing up for his email alerts via his website here as well as following him on Facebook and Twitter. 

Lately Disney planning has been more challenging than in the past due to the frequency with which they change shows and times and hours and such. I'm not complaining, mind you, this is the result of new experiences being added for the most part, so hooray that. But it is tricky making plans as far out as Disney encourages and then keeping an ear to the ground to see if the changes require moving ADRs or FastPass+ reservations or even shifting plans for which park to visit on which day. You've got to plan but remain flexible and sometimes that's a hard balance to keep.

In this case, we were ready to forgo Fantasmic (for which we'd secured FastPass+es) to be able to catch the Star Wars fireworks, but as it turns out they will not be offered on the night we are at Hollywood Studios. Kind of a bummer, but it means we can stick with our plans there that day. But Animal Kingdom's longer hours are another story. The park will be open until 8:30 pm rather than the previously announced 6:30 pm on October 31. We won't be there until November 2, and new hours haven't been released for November yet, but I have every idea those days will be extended as well. If this is the case, we'll cancel our Morimoto Asia ADRs and plan to stay in Animal Kingdom to enjoy the new nighttime experiences. There is even a rumor that Rivers of Light may be up and running by the end of October, which would mean trying to find an ADR at an Animal Kingdom restaurant that offers viewing and dinner combos.

Oh darn, looks like I'll have to keep hanging out on all the Disney websites..... Poor me :-)

60 Days: FastPass Day!!!!!

I know I already wrote of my FastPass+ plans, but 60 days out is FastPass Day, so I thought I'd tell you how it went.

We finally got John's band schedule nailed down, and we are going to be leaving for Disney from Cary on the Saturday night before Halloween, so our park visits will begin on Sunday, October 30 and we'll leave about lunchtime on the following Thursday.

My FastPass+ strategy is pretty unique to our trip. Most of the published touring plans have the goal of getting as many attractions fit into as little time as possible. We have different priorities. It's a good example of why you should either know Disney's systems well enough to sort out your own plans, or talk to someone who does before you make your own plans. To be right for you, they need to fit your needs. In our case, we have some sort of special circumstance affecting each day's plans.

On Sunday, we're headed to Hollywood Studios, but doing so on likely just a few hours sleep. We will be leaving directly from a band competition on Saturday night, maybe as late as 8 or 9 pm, so we may not get to Coronado Springs until the very wee hours. I don't know how early we will get up, but we will definitely not be rope dropping.  We only get two FastPasses for this park, and Rock'n Rollercoaster wasn't available (hoping that doesn't mean it's closed....), so our first reservation is for Tower of Terror in the early afternoon. I looked through the other options and didn't see anything that was likely to offer a huge line we needed to avoid, so I made our second FastPass for Fantasmic, ensuring us seats for a show we haven't seen in probably ten years.

Monday is Magic Kingdom day but we have the Keys To The Kingdom Tour in the morning and MNSSHP at night, so our window for FastPasses runs from about 3-7 pm. I made one for Jungle Cruise at 2:30 thinking we may be able to make the hour-long window, then for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and finally one for the Dumbos just before the party begins just because I had one more and Dumbos fit.

Tuesday is Epcot, but we are looking to spend a good bit of time at the Food and Wine Festival, so I took that into account. I figure we'll rope drop this park and hit Soarin' first so I made my first FastPass for Test Track at 10 am as our second stop (or third if we can fit Livin' With The Land in first). I spread our next two out into the afternoon and evening with Mission space around 3 pm and Spaceship Earth around 7 pm. My idea is bounce back and forth between Future World and World Showcase so we can graze at the food booths. We'll see how that works.

Wednesday is the most "normal" day we have and it will be Animal Kingdom day. We'll rope drop the safari then head to Expedition Everest with our first FastPass. It's an Extra Magic Hours day, so that should work out well. Our next FastPass is for Dinosaur in the early afternoon and our last is Kali River Rapids just before the park closes at 5 and we head off to dinner at Morimoto Asia, hopefully giving us ample time to dry.

We'll be leaving Thursday, but will spend a good half day at Magic Kingdom first. I just fit in two FastPasses for this day with Space Mountain early then Tomorrowland Speedway at 1 so we can keep that our traditional last ride before we leave.

I think I've done well. The only other advance FastPass experience I have was on a one-day Epcot trip, but it worked well so I believe I have a handle on this. I will certainly be reporting back on the results!

69 Days: FastPass Dreamin'

Home from our end of summer trip and finally got the final (hopefully) schedule for John's high school marching band competitions. That finally settles which day of our trip will be spent in which park, and just in time as my window for making FastPass reservations opens one week from Tuesday! How exciting is that?

We'll be leaving straight from John's last competition on Saturday, October 29 in Cary, NC. Not ideal, as we'll be driving through the night and that will make Sunday a bit sleepy for us. Seeing as Hollywood Studios is very much under construction, we'll spend Sunday there. Monday will be Magic Kingdom Day with the Keys To The Kingdom Tour and then Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We'll hit Epcot and the Food and Wine Festival on Tuesday and Animal Kingdom on Wednesday. We'll leave Thursday, but are in no hurry so will probably be hitting Magic Kingdom again until lunchtime.

I'm thinking play it safe and secure afternoon FastPasses in the Studios, Rock-n-Roller Coaster for sure and also Toy Story if we can. We'll need to squeeze Monday's at the Magic Kingdom between the end of the tour and 7:00, so I'm think Seven Dwarves and Haunted Mansion (thinking it'll packed on Halloween). We may miss the new Frozen ride at Epcot in favor of the new movie version of Soarin', but definitely in the morning so we can hit the Food and Wine soon as it opens. I'm thinking we rope drop the safari at Animal Kingdom and use the FastPass for Expedition Everest later in the day.

This is just a basic, preliminary plan. I haven't even researched exactly how many we get in each park and what the tiers look like yet. I feel so behind already :-)

Any suggestions on the plan as it is so far?

86 Days: Great Movie Ride Rumor Mill

This has certainly been  a time of change, both confirmed and rumored, for Disney's Hollywood Studios park. I'm over-the-top thrilled about Star Wars Land being constructed and I'm also looking forward to the expansion of the area around Toy Story Midway Mania into a Pixar Land (including a Slinky Dog Coaster, which looks too cute). I've written about the coming PizzeRizzo restaurant to a re-imagined Muppets Square as well. Now we hear changes are in the works for the very center, if not the center point, of the park.

The rumor is the Great Movie Ride will be leaving the Chinese Theater to be replaced by The Great Mickey Ride. The Great Movie Ride is sponsored by Turner Classic Movies but that sponsorship will end in the next few years. Word is, and it appears this way to me, Disney is trying to replace properties it does not control (many of the movies portrayed in The Great Movie Ride are not Disney-owned) with Disney stuff. Also, in all of Disney's theme parks, Mickey has never had an attraction of his own. And after all, it WAS all started by a mouse, right?

94 Days: Pizzerizzo!

There are lots of changes happening at Hollywood Studios with Star Wars Land and the new Toy Story area on there way. I'm happy about these plans, but in the meantime the park is in a bit of a transitional phase and I gotta admit it's the one I'm least excited about this trip. The announcement of the new Pizzerizzo opening in the old Pizza Planet building has helped, though.

We love the Muppets, especially the lovely and talented Miss Lisa. And we enjoyed Pizza Planet, but the re-imagining as Rizzo the Rat's hang-out sounds like an improvement on an already fun space. We're not looking for a gourmet experience, just eating passable pizza amongst the Muppets will be just fine :-)

I love that logo. It looks like every single pizza box in America. Perfect. 

96 Days: #DisneyParksLive Streams

Tonight is the last of four live streams of events at Walt Disney Parks. It just so happens that tonight's is the Paint The Night Parade at Disneyland and since it happens at almost midnight my time, I'll miss it. Truth be told I also missed last week's stream of the Galactic Spectacular fireworks show from Disney's Hollywood studios. We were floating in the pool in the back yard and forgot. Oops. But I did see the first two streams and the entire concept is totally cool and looks to have been carried off wonderfully.

The first live stream was on Independence Day and featured the Fourth of July fireworks from Disney World. The town next door hosts the Official North Carolina Fourth of July Festival complete with huge fireworks display. It's fun but also features a huge traffic jam trying to get home. As I get older, I'm happier on my couch, and if I can watch Disney's fireworks from there, so much the better! We managed to hook my laptop up to both our shiny new embarrassingly large tv and our old, but still amazing Bose radio, so it turned out to be a pretty spectacular show right in our living room.

I ended up at home alone for the second live stream as it happened in late afternoon before the family got home. I have more flexibility and got done in time to thoroughly enjoy the performance of the Mickey's Friendship Faire stage show. It has a bit of a renaissance fair flavor, especially in the costumes, and since we are huge ren faire fans, I loved that aspect. I'm not much to watch the stage shows at Disney World normally, but might just need to make time for this one, especially since they've added Louie Gator from Princess and the Frog. Suppose enough time has passed....

So if you can mange to keep your eyelids open until 11:50 pm Eastern, be sure to check out tonight's live stream at the Disney Parks Blogs website!

PS. I tried to find past live streams on the Disney Parks Blog YouTube channel to no avail. I did, however, get completely swept up in a 70 episode series on jobs at Disneyland.......

Wordless Wednesday....Sidekicks

Check out all the other sidekickery over at Focused On The Magic